


Back Home

by 100SleeplessNights



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bisexual Harry, Bisexual Harry Potter, Demisexual Draco, Domestic Fluff, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Getting Back Together, HP: EWE, Kid Fic, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Queer Luna, biromantic Draco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-20 01:18:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3631233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/100SleeplessNights/pseuds/100SleeplessNights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When someone knocks on Draco's door on Christmas Eve his life takes a sudden change for the better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Christmas Surprise

It was Christmas Eve. Draco was the only one still awake, his wife and son were already in bed. One couldn’t say he was unhappy but he wasn’t happy either. Apparently not every arranged marriage led to the spouses being at least friends. His clearly hadn’t. He respected Belle but nothing more than that. They were just too different.

He had just decided to go to bed when there was a knock on the door.

He walked to the front door and opened it slowly, wand in his hand just in case. Even though they lived in France and the war had been over for several years he still wasn’t safe and he wouldn’t be surprised to find enraged wizards in front of his door, even on Christmas.

As it turned out it wasn’t an enraged wizard but the greeting wasn’t less violent. Instead of hexes a familiar person flung to him and hugged him tight.

“What on earth are you doing here, Harry?” Draco asked under his breath when he had recovered from the shock of seeing his ex-boyfriend for the first time in more than four years.

“I missed you.” Harry stated and hugged Draco even closer.

“I missed you, too, darling.” _Terribly_. And not only Harry but everything he had left behind when he moved to France “But are you out of your mind? Belle and Scorpius are asleep upstairs! Do you have a death wish or something?”

“No…” Harry murmured, “It’s just… I needed to see you. And Scorpius, too. I know you wanted me to leave you alone but it’s been four years and I just can’t do it anymore.”

“You’re wrong… I never wanted you to leave me alone. That was what my father wanted. You don’t want to know how often I contemplated packing all my stuff, grabbing Scorpius and coming back to you.”

“You did?”

“All the time. But Harry, you see, it’s still not possible for us to be together, no matter how many years have passed.”

“But it is!”

“How? You know what my father said and I doubt he changed his mind about it.”

“He died.” Harry said in a small voice.

“He died?” Draco repeated, not able to believe it.

“Yes, he died. On the 2nd of November.”

“And why do you only tell me that now?” Draco snapped. His father had been dead for almost two months, why had no one thought it necessary to tell him?

“Because I thought you knew. I thought you knew and led a great new life with your wife and our son and had forgotten about me and everything we had.” Harry started crying into Draco’s shoulder silently.

“Well, I didn’t. No one told me and I stopped reading the _Prophet_ long ago.” He stroked Harry’s unruly jet-black hair in an attempt to calm him.

“So you don’t know what your father stated in his last will?”

“No. What did it say?”

“He gave us his blessings. It said, and I quote; I have never seen my son Draco as happy as he was with his boyfriend Harry Potter. I was too much of a coward to tell them when I was still alive but they have my blessings.” Harry wiped away his tears and looked at Draco expectantly.

A wide grin spread on Draco’s face. “Oh Merlin, Harry! I am so happy. We can finally be together.” He finally let himself relax into Harry’s arms.

“So, you’re coming back to Britain with me?”

“Of course. I just have to sort out things with Belle and all my acquaintances here and then Scorpius and I will be coming back to Britain. Two days, three days tops and we will be back.”

Draco froze when he heard the stairs creak behind them. If it was Belle he would be dead in a second. And Harry a second later.

“Daddy?” Scorpius said. Draco released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He let go of Harry and walked a few steps inside to talk to his son.

“Hey, Scorpius. Why are you up?” Draco whispered.

“You know why… I miss Papa and Teddy. Christmas was so much better when we were with them.”

“I know, sweetheart. What if I told you Papa is here tonight?”

“I would say you’re a liar.”

Draco chuckled. “Yes, you probably would. But let’s at least check, shall we?”

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically and Draco picked him up. Then he went back to the front door where Harry still waited.

Scorpius rubbed his eyes in disbelief. His Papa was really here. He would take them back home and they could finally be a family again. Every Christmas he had spent in France with Daddy he had wished for this and only this and now it finally happened.

“Papa!” he exclaimed.

Harry took him in his arms. “Hello, Scorpius. Did you miss me?”

“So much!” Scorpius said, stretching out his arms to show his Papa just how much he had missed him.

“I missed you, too, son.” Harry placed a kiss on Scorpius’ forehead and cuddled him, the affection obvious in his movements.

“Where is Teddy? Can we go back home now?”

“Teddy’s with his grandmother tonight. You can come back to Britain in a few days, there are some things Daddy has to take care of and I’m sure you want to say goodbye to all your friends here.”

“I don’t have any friends…” Scorpius mumbled into Harry’s cloak. “They all make fun of me because I’m so terrible at speaking French. I want to go home now.”

Harry looked at Draco for help.

“Look, Scorpius. I want to go home, too. But first I have to end things with Belle and tell everyone I know here that we move back to Britain. It won’t take more than two days, I promise.” Draco said.

Scorpius wasn’t satisfied but he knew very well that he wouldn’t get his way.

“Alright,” he said in a defeated tone. “But I want Papa to bring me back to bed.”

“I’ll bring you back to bed, baby. Where’s your room?”

“First door on the right.” Draco told him. “And don’t forget Silencing Charms. We wouldn’t want Belle to wake up.”

“Of course not. Come on, Scorpius; let’s get you back to bed.”

Scorpius yawned and buried his head in Harry’s shoulder. Harry set up a strong Silencing Charm that would create a bubble surrounding them until he canceled it again. Then he made his way up the stairs to bring his son to bed for the first time in more than four years.

Draco couldn’t believe what had happened in the last few minutes. Harry was here and he could finally be with him, without having to watch their every step so that no one would find out about their relationship. Even more surprising was that Father had actually given them his blessings even if he just stated it in his last will. He couldn’t keep a bright smile off his face. Not even the divorce from Belle would be difficult, thanks to his extensive knowledge in Wizarding Law and a nice little paragraph in their marriage contract.

Harry came back down the stairs with an equally big smile on his face and Draco couldn’t keep himself from kissing him any longer. Harry let out a surprised yelp but returned the kiss hungrily.

“I missed you so much.” Harry murmured, his head on Draco’s shoulder.

“I missed you, too. Thank you for coming today. You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

“Me, too, darling. I finally have you both back.”

Draco leaned back, his hands still on Harry’s hips to keep the soothing contact a little longer.

“You should really go now,” he said. “We will be back in Britain in two days.

Harry nodded and gave Draco one last peck, then he left again.

Draco finally went to bed, a big smile plastered on his face. He was finally able to go back home.


	2. Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aye, I finally finished another chapter! Thanks for all the Kudos, they are very much appreciated. I hope the next chapter won't take as long to finish.

The next morning was tense, to say the least. Draco had told Belle about his father’s death and his desire to end the marriage.

“You can’t leave me like this, Draco!” she whined.

“Oh yes, I can.” Draco said calmly. “It’s in the marriage contract you signed. This was a marriage of convenience, nothing more. Now that my father is dead I will go back to Britain and finally be with my boyfriend.”

Belle screeched and threw a tea cup at him. Draco ducked underneath it and just looked at her, stunned.

“I signed no such thing!”

“Oh, well, you did.” Draco said, still completely calm. “Accio marriage contract.” A large scroll zoomed into his hand and he recited the paragraph that stated the marriage would be annulled with Lucius Malfoy’s death.

As Belle realized what Draco had just read to her, she collapsed in her chair. All her rage was gone and all that was left was sadness. She had tried, she had really tried to be a good wife for Draco but now it was all for nothing. Draco would be back to Britain and she would die as a lonely widow.

“I’m sorry, Belle. I really am. But this is my chance to be happy and I’m taking it. We’ll be off to Britain tomorrow. I hope you will find someone who will stay with you because they love you, not because their father wanted to control their life.” with that Draco left the kitchen and went into the sitting room to floo his acquaintances and let them know that he would live in Britain from now on.

 

Scorpius had left the breakfast table as soon as Draco had started talking about his father’s death and was currently packing his belongings into the trunk Daddy had left him in front of his room the previous night.

He had made a list with things he definitely needed to pack and one with things he wouldn’t need anymore. He loved making lists. He had a list with all his favorite books and one with things he would do once they were back in Britain – he had written it last Christmas. Lists made him feel in control of things. Smiling, he packed the third item on the Packing List. Belle had given him the Gobstone set for his 6th birthday. She really had tried to be like a mother for him. She had tried to teach him French and sat next to his bed in the hospital for hours when he had broken his arm. But the problem had been that Scorpius hadn’t wanted a mother. He had just wanted his Papa back. And now that they were going back to Britain he was glad that Belle had at least tried.

There was a knock on his door and Daddy entered his room with a big box in his arms.

“These are your books from the library, decide which ones you want to keep, will you?” he said and put the box on the floor next to where Scorpius sat.

“Sure. But Daddy?”

“Yes, Scorpius?”

“Do you hate Belle?”

Draco sat down across from Scorpius. “No, of course not. She is a great wife. Just for somebody else. I love Harry and now that we can finally be together I want to be with him. I’m an egoistic asshole; you should know that, Scorpius.”

“No, I don’t. When it comes to me you’re never egoistic.”

“Well, yeah. You’re the last thing I have from Harry, so you’re more important than my ego. And of course you’re also so much more than that.”

“I know. Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Scorpius. Now continue packing your things, I want to leave as soon as possible tomorrow.”

Not even an hour later, after a short Floo call with his solicitor, Draco was a happy unmarried man again and he couldn’t wait to get back to Britain. But there were certain things he still had to take care of. Next he Floo called the headmaster of Scorpius school and his French teacher and told them both about their departing from France. He was more than glad that Belle had never adopted Scorpius as he was sure it would take weeks for such an adoption to be canceled.

Not even 24 hours later Draco and Scorpius stood on Harry’s doorstep. They were both smiling brightly. They had taken the first Portkey to Britain and arrived just in time for lunch.

Draco knocked on the door hesitantly, still not believing that this was really happening.

When the door opened after long seconds, Draco couldn’t keep himself from jumping into Harry’s arms.

“I’m back home, Harry. We’re finally back home.” He said, his head buried in Harry’s shoulder.

“Yes, you’re back home Draco. Now, come on in. Winky is cooking lunch and I have to tell her you’re back.”

Draco let go of Harry again and turned around to look for their sons. They saw them hugging as well, big grins plastered on their faces. Then their made their way inside, their sons following just seconds later.

When Harry had told Winky about the arrival of Draco and Scorpius and their luggage had been taken care of, the four of them settled down in the drawing room in front of a big, warm hearth. Harry and Draco sat next to each other, their sons sitting on their laps, Scorpius on Harry’s and Teddy on Draco’s.

Teddy was the first to talk. “I missed you, Dad.” He said and looked up to Draco.

“I missed you, too, Teddy Bear.”

“Will you read stories to us again?”

“Of course. I will read stories to you until you no longer want me to.”

Teddy smiled happily and buried his head in Draco’s chest.

“What’s for lunch, Papa?” Scorpius asked next.

“Such a special occasion calls for pizza, don’t you think?”

Scorpius nodded. “We never had pizza in France, Belle said it wasn’t healthy.”

Harry chuckled. “Well she’s certainly right with that. But it won’t kill us to eat pizza every once in a while. Your dad and I once had a bet with Luna that we would be able to eat only pizza for a week and we won that bet and are still alive and well, so it can’t be that terrible.”

Both boys were reduced to giggles and Draco just smiled fondly at the memory. He remembered it well; he had gained several pounds in that week after all and had to do a lot of training to get rid of the extra weight again. But it had been fun and worth it. Yes, definitely worth it.

“Did you really have pizza for breakfast?” Teddy asked curiously.

“Yes, we did. It was really weird. But by far not the weirdest thing we did, right Harry?”

“Definitely. Remember when we went to the Manor for Christmas and I was polyjuiced as Luna?”

“Of course I remember. That was pure madness. Imagine what would’ve happened had Father found out.”

“I’m glad he didn’t. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here now.”

Winky popped into the drawing room and announced that dinner was ready.

“Thank you, Winky.” Harry told her. “You can take off for the rest of the day. I will be making dinner tonight.”

Winky nodded and disappeared again.

“You’re making dinner?” Teddy asked. “But you haven’t done that since…”

“Since Draco and Scorpius left, exactly. And now they’re back.”

Scorpius turned on Harry’s lap and looked at him with a questioning gaze. “Why didn’t you cook when we were away?”

“Because it reminded me too much of you. You two were always around when I was cooking. Cooking without you around just felt wrong.”

Harry felt tears well up in his eyes. But before they could roll down his face, Draco dabbed them away.

Harry smiled tentatively. “I forgot you always have a handkerchief ready.”

“Well, I didn’t forget that you’re moved to tears easily. Now, let’s go to the dining room and eat as much pizza as we possibly can to make up for the last four years.”

Harry chuckled and together they went into the dining room that was already filled with the delicious scent of homemade pizza.

Ever the gentleman, Draco pulled out the chair on the head of the table for Harry before he sat down next to him.

Once everyone had a slice of pizza they started talking about small but important things, because they brought them closer as a family. Scorpius told Teddy how Belle had ruined Draco’s perfectly groomed hair right when they had to get their Portkey and in turn Teddy told Scorpius how Winky had fallen down a flight of stairs with Harry’s birthday cake the last year because she had forgotten she had polished them just hours ago. Harry and Draco both laughed heartily with their sons and then shared a few stories from when they had gotten together in their final year at Hogwarts.

It was better than Scorpius had ever expected being back home to be like. He had his brother and Papa back and his Dad was finally truly happy again. He missed Belle and their house in France a little, yes, but this was so much better.

After lunch Teddy and Scorpius went outside to do a bit of catching up in the nearby park. They sat down on the bench facing the small lake.

“I really missed you and Papa. And living here, too. France is great but… I like it better here.” Scorpius said.

“I missed you, too, little brother. Papa got really sad when you left. He would just hide in his room all day and sometimes when I went by his door I could hear him crying. It got better when Luna moved back in. She made him go outside and made him attend the meals with me. He even started going out again but he never brought anyone back and when I asked him he told me he couldn’t cheat on Daddy.” Teddy started crying now, his face buried in his younger brother’s shoulder.

“I’m so glad you’re home now. I haven’t seen Papa this happy since you left.” He sobbed and they fell into a tense silence.

Scorpius turned around to his brother (well, technically adoptive brother but still) and gently petted his blue hair in an attempt to calm him.

 

Draco’s mood was a lot cheerier than that of his sons. He lay on the sofa on top of Harry and covered him with small affectionate kisses.

“I missed you so much, Harry. Those four years were so lonely without you.”

“I missed you, too. But you’re back now. And I won’t let you leave again. No matter what I have to do, as long as you want to be here, I’ll keep you here.” Harry promised. He pulled Draco into an affectionate kiss that showed exactly how grateful he was that he and Scorpius were back. _I finally have my family back_ , he thought and tears of happiness threatened to fall from his eyes.

“Don’t cry darling.” Draco said soothingly. “I’m here now and I won’t ever leave you again.”

“I know. I’m crying because I’m so happy.”

Draco kissed away Harry’s tears and smiled at him more brightly than he had in years.


	3. A Second Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally another chapter. But it's almost twice as long as the first ones, so yay!

As if on cue Teddy and Scorpius came back inside just as Harry had started preparing dinner. Draco opened the door for them and ushered them into the kitchen to let them help – or at least watch. That was what he was planning to do after all. He had always loved how Harry looked so completely at ease whenever he prepared a meal. He just hoped that hadn’t changed in the four years he had been away.

It hadn’t, he realized soon enough. Harry was still as nice to look at while he was cooking as he had been when they had moved in together after school. And he knew it.

“Are you going to help me cook or will you just ogle my arse for the next hour or so?” he asked once he had noticed that Draco wasn’t going to offer his help.

Draco smiled. He had anticipated this. “I’d rather watch you.” He said. “And please don’t swear in front of our sons.”

Harry chuckled. Alright. I’ll try to. Will you help me kiddos?”

Both Scorpius and Teddy whooped excitedly.

“Great. Teddy, you’re in charge of the vegetables, cut everything in slim slices.” Harry pointed at a bowl filled with carrots, peppers and zucchini. “And Scorpius, I’ll show you how to make a nice lemon sauce for the chicken.”

Both boys nodded excitedly and the three of them got to work. Draco hopped on the only counter that wasn’t occupied and watched them with a big smile on his face. This domestic life felt so much better with Harry than it had with Belle. It always had because Harry knew things. Harry knew that he preferred chicken over pork and that he could only sleep well when he had something to cuddle, be it another person or a cuddly toy. Harry knew that he didn’t like to be woken up by an alarm but loved to be woken up with small kisses. And Harry didn’t know those things because Draco had told him but because Harry had watched him over the seven years they had been together.

And of course, Draco knew things as well. He knew that Harry couldn’t sleep in complete darkness or when there was a possibility he would touch a wall in sleep. He knew that Harry loved listening to him and that was very fortunate because Draco loved to talk. He knew that Harry preferred Muggle literature over Wizarding literature because Muggles were so much more creative. Draco liked to think he knew Harry better than anyone else, better than even his closest friends.

Soon the kitchen was filled with delicious smells and Draco could only admire how his three boys worked alongside each other smoothly. When the chicken was ready, Harry called him to the oven to taste it.

“It’s delicious, Harry,” he commented, “Like always.”

“Thank you, darling. Try the vegetables and sauce as well. If they’re good, we’ll have dinner now.”

Draco smiled at Harry’s bossy tone he always developed in the kitchen and did as he was told. When he was satisfied with the taste of both the vegetables and the sauce they brought the food into the dining room together and had a nice and light dinner.

When Draco watched Harry tuck the boys in, he remembered that there was something he had to tell him. He had known it for a few years now and he wanted, no - needed Harry to know.

They were downstairs again and sitting on the sofa in front of the flickering fire as Draco put together all the courage he had (it wasn’t much), took a deep breath and blurted it out.

“I love you.”

Draco closed his eyes, not wanting to see the expression of shock he was sure Harry was wearing. He shouldn’t have done this; it had been a terrible idea. Harry didn’t feel the same for him and would kick him out again – this time for good.

“Draco…” Harry said gently, “Darling, please look at me.”

Draco slowly opened his eyes and when he lifted his gaze to Harry’s face he saw him smiling.

“I love you, too.” Harry whispered and pulled Draco on his lap to kiss him.

Draco couldn’t keep a lonely tear from rolling down his cheek. Harry loved him. Harry knew how damaged he was and he still loved him.

Harry saw the stray tear and wiped it away with his thumb, calloused from all the work he did in their garden, Draco was sure.

“Come here,” he whispered just as gently and wrapped his arms around Draco. He petted Draco’s hair and rubbed his back until Draco let out a big yawn.

“Bed?” Harry asked.

Draco just nodded and yawned again.

Harry apparated them into their bedroom on the first floor, onto the king size bed in the middle of the room.

“Bloody show-off,” Draco grumbled and then got up from the bed to get changed. Wearing a black silk pyjama he climbed back in and snuggled into Harry’s side. The calm heartbeat and the warmth that radiated from Harry let him fall asleep fast and easy.

Draco woke up warm and comfortable the next morning. He was surrounded by strong honey-hued arms and could feel Harry’s breath tickling his neck. It just felt so _right_ to lie with Harry like this, not a care in the world.

“Good morning, Dragon,” Harry murmured sleepily from behind him and Draco smiled because Harry was the only person aside from his mother who was allowed to use that name. _Yes_ , he thought, _I want that for the rest of my life_.

“Good morning, love,” he said and turned around to face Harry.

“I like that pet name,” Harry said, smiling.

“That’s good; I plan on using it as often as possible.” Draco smiled as well and then kissed Harry, morning breath be damned.

After they had showered they went downstairs where they found Teddy and Scorpius playing peacefully in the living room. Teddy looked up from his jigsaw when he heard the door creak and smiled.

“Good morning Papa, good morning Daddy,” he said, “We already had breakfast.”

“Good morning, Teddy,” Harry replied also smiling, “What did you have for breakfast?”

“Teddy made us chocolate cereal!” Scorpius chirped.

“That’s great. Harry and I will have some breakfast as well and then I think we should have a second Christmas, just us as a family. What do you think?” Draco said.

Draco saw Scorpius eyes light up and his smile grow. “Really Daddy? A real Christmas with Papa and Teddy?”

“Yes.”

“With presents?”

Draco nodded, “With presents.”

 

“You have presents?” Harry asked surprised when they were alone in the kitchen.

“Yes…” Draco said carefully, not sure whether or not Harry appreciated it. “I bought presents for Teddy and you for your birthdays and for Christmas every year because I always hoped you would come and take me back.”

Harry enveloped him in a bone crushing hug. “I did the same…” he said in a low voice. “I always hoped you and Scorpius would come back.”

“I know you did. I saw the presents in the storage room.” Draco grinned. “Now let’s have some breakfast and then we can celebrate a nice lazy family Christmas.”

And that they did. They had a small breakfast and then went to collect the presents they had bought for each other and for their sons over the years. With the presents levitating behind them they re-entered the living room.

“Presents!” Scorpius squealed and helped them put the boxes under the Christmas tree that was decorated with Christmas baubles and fragile snowflake ornaments.

Teddy, Scorpius and Draco sat down on the sofa facing the tree and Harry disappeared again to make Hot Chocolate for all of them. “It’s not Christmas without Hot Chocolate!” Draco had declared just seconds earlier.

As they were finally all seated in a semicircle on the floor around the tree, mugs full of delicious Hot Chocolate in hands, Draco started telling his version of the Christmas tale.

“More than a thousand years ago at this time of the year Merlin was wading knee deep through the snow. It was late and for some reason he couldn’t do magic, so he couldn’t get away. He came upon a small lonely house on a hill. Exhausted he knocked on the door and was let in by a motherly woman, in fact she looked a little like Mrs Weasley.”

At that Teddy and Scorpius chuckled.

“Silence, I’m not done yet.” Draco chided gently.

“So, as I said, Merlin was led into the house by the nice woman and she brought him into the living room where her husband and her three children were sitting in front of the warm fireplace. They were Muggles so they couldn’t do anything aside from letting him warm up in front of the fire and offer him to sleep on the sofa. In the middle of the night Merlin woke up and felt his magic coming back. To thank the family for their hospitality and charity he summoned a pine tree as it was the only tree that was still green at this time of the year and then transfigured bits and pieces he found in his robes into small presents. He then wrote a small note signing it Santa Clause, one of the names he used when he didn’t want people to know his identity. With one last look back and a smile on his face he disapparated and went back to business. The Muggle family on the other hand had a relative who was a witch and they told her about the strange man and the happenings of the night. She liked the idea and soon it spread all over Britain and then the world to give presents to your loved ones and people who gave you hospitality and charity in the middle of the winter to cheer up and forget about the gloominess of the season.”

Harry sighed deeply at the end of the story and cuddled into Draco’s side some more.

“Can we open presents now?” Teddy asked, bouncing his feet, eager to see what his Dad had gotten him in all the years they had been apart.

“Of course, Teddy.” Draco said; the smile evident in his voice. “You can each choose one present with your name on it and then you come back and open it.”

Both boys scrambled to their feet and walked the few steps to choose a present from their big piles. Scorpius chose a small box wrapped in dark green paper and went back to sit down Harry’s lap. Always the proper Malfoy he waited until Teddy had chosen a present as well and had sat down between Draco and Harry. As soon as Teddy’s head touched Draco’s shoulder, Scorpius’ patience snapped and he ripped the present open.

Inside was a jewellery box holding a round emerald pendant on a thin silver chain. Scorpius’ eyes widened and he carefully lifted the chain, for the first time seeing the carvings all around the gem.

“Those are for protection.” Harry told him and then took the chain from his hands to clasp it around his neck. The pendant fell to the middle of Scorpius chest, highlighting his eyes that were just as green as his father’s.

“Thank you, Papa”, Scorpius said smiling and then looked over to what Teddy had gotten from their Dad.

Teddy held a plain green book in his hands. Questioningly he looked at his Dad.

“It’s a diary. It’s charmed so only you can read it and when you ask the right questions it will answer you.”

“The right questions?”

“It will help you with difficult decisions and the like. And of course you can still come to Harry or me with your problems. I just know from personal experience that there are things you don’t _want_ to discuss with your parents,” Draco explained further.

“Thank you, Dad. It’s really cool.”

Laying the presents aside for the time being both boys jumped up again to choose their next presents. After half an hour of ripping paper and excited squeals Teddy and Scorpius left the living room to go upstairs and play with their presents in their rooms, leaving Draco and Harry alone to open their presents.

The first present Harry had for Draco was a dragon pendant on a similar chain as Scorpius’.

“Let me guess, it’s charmed with all kinds of protections?”

“Yeah. And when I’m in danger it will warm up and function as a Portkey to the safest point close to me. I have a similar one.”

Harry pulled his own chain out from under his shirt and showed Draco the snake pendant.

“So, it tells you when I am in danger?”

“Exactly.”

“Thank you, love. They’re brilliant.” Draco said and gave Harry a small peck on the lips before he gave him his first present.

Harry unwrapped it carefully and revealed a collection of the finest French herbs, all filled in labelled glass vials and stocked into a small storage rack.

“Is that a hint that I should cook French cuisine more often?” Harry joked.

Draco snickered. “It’s just herbs; you can use them for other cuisine as well.”

“I know, thank you.”

The next present Harry had for Draco was a grey stuffed Dragon toy that had almost glowing green eyes. Draco had a big goofy grin on his face when he jumped into Harry’s lap and wrapped his arms around his neck.

“I…” Harry started.

“No, don’t say anything. I know it’s a children’s toy but you and I both know that there will be nights we won’t be sleeping in the same bed be it because I banned you to sleep on the sofa or other reasons and then I will need this, so thank you.”

“That’s actually not what I wanted to say. I had it charmed to have a heartbeat.”

“Oh Merlin, that’s even better. I love you and it’s beyond me how I didn’t realize that earlier.”

After another squeeze Draco stood up and shoved the next present in Harry’s hands.

It was a clock similar to the ones the Weasleys had. It had one hand for each of them and currently they were all pointing to _Home_.

“Family…” Harry breathed and carefully stroked each name engraved in the hands.

Draco smiled fondly at Harry’s reaction and then pulled the last two presents out from under the tree.

“Why do I have the feeling that you haven’t gotten around to get this year’s Christmas present for me?” he enquired.

“Oh, I have. It just doesn’t fit under the tree. But I will show you after we have opened these.”

Draco’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a huge present. He then impatiently ripped the one on his lap open. Gasping he lifted the leather bound photo album out of the wrapping paper and admired the design before opening it carefully.

On the first page an 11 year-old Draco got his robes fitted at Madam Malkin’s.

“Memory Photography?” he asked.

“Yeah. There’s a place in Diagon Alley that specializes in it.”

Harrys last present was small, it fit in a palm. He slowly opened it. The jewellery box held a simple ring with a dark diamond.

“It’s a promise ring,” Draco explained. “I promise to never leave you again, no matter what. It’s not quite an engagement ring but not far from it when given by a lover. Do you… do you accept?”

Harry’s answering smile lit up the whole room. “Yes! Yes, of course I accept. This is perfect, thank you so much!”

Draco released a breath he didn’t know he was holding and slumped down in Harry’s lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last two presents will be revealed in the next chapter so stay tuned.  
> Kudos and Comments are always appreciated.


	4. Luna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took like forever. It's not that long but I really had no idea what to write.
> 
> Kudos and Comments are appreciated.

After a few minutes of comfortable cuddling, Harry shook Draco’s shoulder.

“Do you want to see your last present?”

In the fraction of a second Draco was completely awake again.

“I’d love to.”

He got up from Harry’s lap and waited for him to lead the way. They passed the store room to Draco’s surprise and Harry led him down into the basement. Then Harry produced a key from his pocket and opened the first door on the right.

“Merry Christmas, Draco.” He said before stepping away from the door so Draco could enter the room.

Draco had just stepped a foot inside when he almost stumbled out again.

“A… a potions lab?” he asked, eyes wide and threatening to fall out of his skull any second.

“Yeah… it only has the most basic ingredients for now but I’m sure you can stock that up on your own.”

“Yeah… yeah I can. Thank you, Harry. So much. In comparison the present I want to get for you is just… nothing. Thank you for supporting me with my dream.”

“What can I say? I love to spoil you.” Harry gave Draco a small kiss and then went up to the ground floor again, leaving Draco to start brewing a few basic potions in the time before lunch.

A few hours later Harry knocked on the door to the lab. Draco put all his cauldrons under strong Stasis Charms and then opened the door.

“Yes?”

“I have made lunch. When are you coming up?”

“Give me five minutes. I’ll just finish the bruise balm and then I’m done for now.”

Harry shot him a blinding smile, glad that his present was put to good use. “Great. We made pasta with Bolognaise sauce.”

Draco chuckled. “Scorpius’ favorite.”

“Exactly.” With that Harry disappeared again and Draco finished the bruise balm, stirring counter clockwise sixteen times, before following him upstairs and into the dining room.

Harry was great at cooking all kinds of pasta but pasta with Bolognaise sauce was his specialty and Draco and Scorpius both loved it. Savouring the first bite, Draco moaned. He had sorely missed this. No one could make pasta as tasty as Harry. This was easily the best Christmas ever even if it was a little late.

Scorpius chuckled at the sounds his Dad made while eating. It felt good to see him so relaxed again after the years of stiff conversation and polite dining they’d had with Belle in France. And he had to agree with his Dad’s appreciating moans, his Papa’s pasta was delicious.

“When are we going to see Aunt Luna again?” Teddy asked when they had finished.

“We could floo her right away if you wanted to. We should definitely invite her over now that Draco and Scorpius are back.”

In no time all four of them sat in front of the hearth in the living room and Draco threw floo powder into the flames, calling out Luna Lovegood.

A few long seconds later, Luna’s head appeared in the flames and once she had taken in exactly who was calling her, her face split in a wide grin.

“Draco! Scorpius! You’re back!” she exclaimed.

“Luna. It’s good to see you,” Draco said and meant it. He had missed his second best friend almost as much as he had missed Harry. “Would you like to come over for tea so we can catch up?”

“That would be fantastic, Draco. I’ll floo over at five.”

Luna’s head disappeared and the flames in the hearth turned orange once again.

 

At exactly five o’clock Luna gracefully emerged from the fireplace. She floated over to Draco and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I knew you would come back,” she whispered so low only Draco could hear her, “You wouldn’t stay in France if you had the chance to be with him without the risk of losing your family.”

“Yeah. Thank you for believing in me and telling Harry to. I really missed you.”

“I missed you, too, Dray.” Draco sneered at the nickname but knew that telling Luna not to use it was a waste of time and breath. “Now, let’s join your family in the dining room for tea, that’s after all why I’m here, right?”

Harry, Scorpius and Teddy were already waiting for them in the drawing room and the moment Luna entered the room, she was attacked by two children laughing and exclaiming _Aunt Luna!_

“Hey, boys. Yes, I missed you, too. We can play after tea, okay?”

Both boys squealed and ran back to their chairs so they were finished as soon as possible. Playing with Aunt Luna was always a lot of fun and they had both missed it greatly.

Draco chuckled at the boys’ antics. Scorpius had never been this enthusiastic and happy when they had still been in France. And of course he had missed Luna, too. There was no denying that. You can’t leave the country and not miss your best friend after all.

When they all had their tea and Winky had brought cookies for them, they started talking like Draco had never been away in the first place.

Harry enquired about Curio, Luna’s shop in Diagon Alley where she sold objects of virtu.

“Oh, it’s flourishing. Adelaide is a great employee and we have a lot of customers.”

“That’s great. I’m sure Draco and I will be coming over some time after New Year.”

“Of course. And I presume we’ll be celebrating New Year’s Eve together?”

“Can we? Please Luna!” Scorpius begged.

Luna just nodded.

“Yes! And can we stay up until Midnight, Daddy?”

“That will depend on whether you fall asleep before or not. You’re certainly allowed to. I wouldn’t want you to miss all the fun, especially with all the fireworks your Papa will surely get from your Uncle George.”

“Yes!” Scorpius exclaimed and to Teddy he whispered “Belle always put me to bed early on New Year’s Eve and then she and Daddy would leave to some posh party. It was terrible.”

“Scorpius!” Draco chided. “I won’t have you badmouthing Belle. She did the best she could, no matter how little that was sometimes.”

Scorpius hung his head. “Yes, Daddy. I’m sorry.”

Luna chuckled. “Can you really fault him? Every little kid dreams of staying up until midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry, Scorpius.” He sighed. “I know that I would’ve loved to accompany my parents to their New Year’s Eve celebrations.”

“It’s okay Daddy.” Scorpius said. “You’re right, Belle did her best but it just wasn’t enough for us.”

Draco ruffled Scorpius hair affectionately and then went back to drinking his tea.

 

When dinnertime came around they said their goodbyes and Luna flooed back home. Harry just wanted to disappear in the kitchen to prepare dinner when Draco grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

“I would like to help you with dinner tonight.” He said.

Harry looked surprised but then smiled brightly. “Okay. Then come along. I show you what I had in mind.”

Soon the whole house was filled with the scent of Fish and Chips.

_Yes_ , Draco thought, _I missed Britain_. It was great to cook with Harry, even if it was something as easy as Fish and Chips and he vowed to do it way more often.


	5. The Last Christmas Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally another chapter :) It was almost done already for a few weeks and I just forgot to finish it properly and put it up. I hope you enjoy it.

The next morning the family went to Diagon Alley so Draco could get the last Christmas present for Harry and they could buy everything they would need for New Year’s Eve.

“You’ll get me a pet?” Harry asked when they approached the Magical Menagerie.

“Yes. Only if you want to of course. But I thought it would be a nice addition to our family.”

“Yes, a pet would be nice. Did you have an animal in mind?”

“Please don’t kill me, but maybe a snake?”

Harry just shrugged. “I don’t even know if I can still speak Parsel. But it’s worth a shot. Let’s look for a snake then.”

All four of them entered the shop and almost instantly all eyes were on them. Harry just waited for the first person to speak up.

“We’re not selling to Death Eaters.” The clerk said from behind the counter. Harry sighed, having expected this, and walked up to him.

“The war has been over for more than eleven years now. Get over it or I won’t be buying anything from you.” He said in a deadly tone.

“Yes.” The clerk almost squeaked. “Be our guest, Mr Potter.”

Satisfied, Harry walked back to Draco and their sons and then went to look at the snakes with them.

A beautiful black snake instantly caught his eye.

“ _Hello, beautiful._ ” He tried and succeeded to say in Parsel.

The snake slithered up to the glass of the cage and looked at him curiously.

“ _You speak our language, human._ ” She observed.

“ _Yes, I do. May I ask for your name?_ ”

“ _The people here call me Sali._ ” The snake said, her head swaying in the direction of the clerk.

“ _Do you like the name?_ ”

Sali looked at him in what had to be astonishment. “ _I don’t like it but you can’t change it._ ”

“ _I can and I will._ ” He promised before he walked off to tell Draco which snake he wanted.

 

Draco agreed with him, that she was indeed a beautiful snake and that her name was simply dreadful.

“We’ll buy her and rename her.” He announced. While Draco went to talk to the clerk, Harry showed Teddy and Scorpius the snake.

They both approved as well but then something happened that startled him.

“ _How are you doing?_ ” Scorpius asked in the familiar hissing sound of Parsel. Teddy looked a little terrified and hid behind Harry’s legs.

Sali was positively confused now. She had never before talked to a human and now there were two at the same time capable of speaking her language.

“ _It’s terribly dull._ ” She answered Scorpius. “ _This cage is boring and the people who gawk at me are annoying._ ”

“ _I’m sorry._ ” Scorpius hissed. “ _My fathers will get you out of here and give you a nice new home with us._ ”

 

Meanwhile, Harry tried to calm Teddy down.

“Why is Scorp hissing like this Papa?” he asked, his voice tinged with fear.

“He is talking to the snake, Teddy Bear. You don’t have to be afraid. He is telling her that we will take her home with us.” Harry said calmly, slowly rubbing Teddy’s arm that was still wrapped around his waist from behind.

“You can understand it too?” Scorpius asked, having heard their conversation.

“Yes. You inherited it from me, Scorpius. When we’re home I’ll tell you how I found out I could talk to snakes if you two want to.”

“Is it a funny story?” Teddy asked.

“It is indeed. Now, Scorpius I think it would be appropriate to apologize to your brother for scaring him.”

Scorpius nodded mutely and took a step closer to Harry and Teddy who was still hiding behind him.

“I’m sorry for scaring you, Teddy. I didn’t know I was talking in another language until you pointed it out.”

Teddy went to stand in front of his brother and pulled him into a tight hug. “It’s alright. Will you tell me what she said?”

“She told me she doesn’t like it here and I promised her that we would get her a nice new home with us.”

Their conversation stopped as Draco came around the corner with the clerk walking behind him.

“We’d like to buy her.” He announced and pointed to Sali in her cage.

“That’s thirteen Galleons. Do you need a cage for her?” the clerk stated, his voice void of any emotion.

“No, thank you. We’ll manage.” Draco said, not keen on giving the guy more money than necessary. Then he handed him thirteen Galleons and gestured to Harry to take Sali out of the cage.

“It was a pleasure making business with you, Mr Malfoy.” The clerk sneered. Without looking back the four of them left the shop, Sali wrapped around Harry’s arm.

 

“I’m never going there again!” Draco announced as soon as they had set foot on the cobbled street again.

“No one expects you to, Dragon.” Harry assured him. “I’m sure we can find another pet shop should the need arise.”

Draco grumbled his agreement and followed them to Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes where they would pick up their fireworks.

“Good Morning, Harry.” George greeted him. “And little Teddy of course.”

“I’m not little!” Teddy complained. “I already go to Hogwarts. Scorpius is little!” Teddy tugged on Scorpius’ sleeve and introduced him to George. “He’s my stepbrother!”

“He’s your stepbrother?” George asked confused and looked at Harry for clarification.

“George, may I introduce you to my boyfriend, Draco Malfoy?”

George gasped and looked at Harry like he had lost his marbles. “You and Malfoy? Seriously?”

“Ever since Eighths Year.” Harry said. “With a four year break when Draco’s father found out and demanded he marry a Pureblood witch from France.”

“Wow. I certainly didn’t expect that. So, Scorpius is your son?”

“Yes. We had Luna as a surrogate mother. She’s the only one who knows about us. And now you. I expect a mountain of Howlers and firecalls tomorrow as soon as the Prophet is out.”

George chuckled. “I might have something to deal with that. At least the Howlers. I fear you have to go through an enraged firecall from Ron. Come on, I’ll show you.”

The four of them followed George around the shop until they reached the ‘Celebrity’ section. There he showed them a set of stickers.

“Just put one of them on the seal and the Howler will combust without delivering its message.” He explained.

“Thanks, George. They are brilliant. But actually we came here to buy fireworks for New Year’s Eve.”

“Of course. You know where to find them, I take it?”

“I saw them!” Scorpius exclaimed. He tugged on Harry’s sleeve. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

George smiled at Scorpius antics. “Go on then. Have fun, guys.”

 

As they came back they were received by Winky.

“Winky has already made lunch, Masters.” She told them.

“Thank you, Winky. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

After Harry had stowed the fireworks in the storage room and Scorpius and Teddy had brought their purchases to their respective rooms, they all sat down in the dining room, enjoying the stew Winky had prepared for them.

“You promised us a story, Papa.” Scorpius reminded Harry as soon as they had all finished. Draco looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow.

“Soon. First we have to build a nice terrarium for Sali. And give her a new name.” Harry declared.

“ _Don’t you like your name?_ ” Scorpius asked Sali, who was still wrapped around Harry’s arm.

She shook her head. “ _It’s the name those people gave to me and it means nothing to me. My mother used to call me Athira._ ”

Scorpius looked at Harry questioningly and Harry nodded.

“ _It’s a nice name._ ” Harry told the snake. “ _Would you mind if we called you that?_ ”

“ _Not at all, Master._ ”

“ _Please call me Harry._ ”

“ _As you wish Harry. And what should I call your Mate and your hatchlings?_ ” Athira asked.

Harry almost choked as Athira called Draco his Mate.

“ _My Mate’s name is Draco. Our sons are Teddy and Scorpius._ ” He explained.

“ _Who is the one that can talk in the snake language?_ ”

“ _It’s me, Scorpius._ ” Scorpius chimed in.

“ _Nice to meet you, Scorpius. Where will I be living?_ ”

“ _We still have to build you a terrarium and I hope you can help us with what you want to have in it._ ” Harry told her.

“ _Certainly._ ”

 

Draco and Teddy had witnessed the whole conversation with confused expressions.

“This is unfair.” Draco whispered to Teddy. Teddy just nodded. Now that he had gotten used to the hissing a little he really wished he could talk in the snake language as well.

As the hissing had stopped, Draco stepped up to Harry and wrapped his arm around his hips.

“What did she say, Snake Boy?” he asked.

“That we should call her Athira because that’s the name her mother gave her and she offered her help for the design of the terrarium. Oh, and she called you my Mate.”

Draco looked just as stunned as Harry had but for different reasons.

“Did she really say ‘Mate’?”

“Yeah, she did. Why do you ask, Draco?”

“Because, as a magical snake she can pick up emotional bonds, I guess she also called Teddy and Scorpius both our hatchlings even though only Scorpius is our son by blood?” Harry just nodded. “Her calling me your Mate means that we’re made to stay together forever, as magical snakes choose their Mate for a lifetime.”

Harry’s eyes widened at Draco’s last sentence. They were made to stay together? The thought was a little scary but at the same time it made him really happy.

“That’s fantastic.” Harry said, smiling a little dazed.

“It is indeed.” Draco agreed and turned Harry in his arms before he kissed him.

 

Harry created a spacious terrarium for Athira with her help in the room right next to Draco’s potions lab in the basement. After lunch they recovered to the living room, Athira with them and enjoyed the last peace before the storm that was sure to come the next day.


	6. Floo Calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me forever to write this but I currently have no idea what I want to happen in this story. I will still update it whenever I can though.

When they lay in bed that night, Harry felt completely content. Every possible piece he could have missed in his life he had now, he was sure.

“This was the best Christmas I had in my life.” He told Draco.

“Better than the one when we tricked my parents?” Draco smirked. He knew of course that Harry had hated that particular Christmas, not as much as the ones spent at his relatives’ house, but hated it all the same.

“Definitely. Because this time I could be myself and didn’t have to think about drinking Polyjuice every hour. And didn’t have to balance between acting Luna and acting proper so your parents wouldn’t get suspicious. And of course because I finally have you back and you gave me the four absolute best Christmas presents. I love you so much!”

“I love you, too. But I’m sure the press will explode with articles full of lies and gossip about us.”

Harry chuckled. “We’ll be _Prophet_ Headlines, that’s for sure. But I couldn’t care less. I’m so happy with you and Teddy and Scorpius and I won’t let anyone ruin that – not even Skeeter.”

“No matter what anyone says? Not even your friends?” Draco hated that he sounded so insecure but truth was that he was. What if Harry would rather keep his friends happy with his decisions than take the difficult road and be with him no matter what people said?

But Harry just smiled and kissed Draco like that decision was the easiest he had ever made. “No matter what anyone says.” He confirmed. “It’s my life and I intend to live it like I want to. I won’t let even my friends tell me what to do and decide what’s good for me any longer. I’m almost thirty; it’s high time I lead my own life.”

 

The next morning, Harry had to prove his word. Not only were there hundreds of Howlers arriving over breakfast, indicating that they had probably made the front page with their little shopping trip, and they had one hell of a time shutting them up with the stickers George had sold them but after breakfast the fire calls started.

The first one to call them was Luna, and Harry was glad she was, it was an easy start for the hell that was sure to come, probably from everyone who had his floo address.

“What did you do?” she complained, clearly not happy with either of them. “I thought I would be the first to know should you decide to make your relationship public!”

“We just went to Diagon Alley so I could get Harry his last Christmas present.” Draco explained calmly. “We didn’t even kiss and always stayed at a proper distance. We didn’t expect it to blow up in our faces like that. But we should have anticipated it.”

“That’s right. I expect you for an exclusive interview for the Quibbler tomorrow.”

“We’ll come over after breakfast.” Harry assured her. She could be scarier than Hermione at times and the fact that she seemed so sweet all the time only made it worse.

“Good. I’ll see you then. Good luck dealing with the rest of your friends, Harry.” Luna said and disappeared from the flames.

“We’ll need it.” Harry sighed defeated.

Draco wrapped his arms around him from behind. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He had wanted to do this face to face, before the press found out about them to do some damage reduction but now he had to do it this way. But he had defeated Voldemort; he should be able to talk to his best friend about his boyfriend who had hated them for more than seven years, right? He would find out now either way because he was sure Ron would be calling the minute he saw the article in the Prophet. He may not even bother reading it first.

 

Harry had barely had a minute to compose himself when the flames flared green again and the familiar head of his best friend became visible.

“Harry!” he exclaimed. “The _Prophet_ says you were in Diagon Alley with Malfoy!”

“That’s because I was.” Harry answered calmly, knowing that letting his temper get the better of him would only make it worse.

“You- what?”

“I was in Diagon Alley yesterday, with my boyfriend Draco Malfoy and our sons.” It was better to get it out all at once, Harry decided in a split second. Ron was his best friend and deserved the truth, not some newspaper gossip about his life.

“But… but I thought you were straight!”

Harry sighed. If Ron’s problems were this fundamental there wouldn’t be an easy way out for him. Either Ron got over them (very doubtful) or he would demand Harry break up with Draco what would lead to him ending their friendship, because like he had promised Draco the day before, being with Draco was more important than what any of his friends may say.

“Well, apparently I’m not. Unless I’m mistaken and Draco is a girl.” Harry said. Draco snickered at that behind his back.

“So… you’re gay?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know actually. I just know that being with Draco feels right.”

“It feels _right_ to be with that ferret? How do you know he’s not only using you to get back into the good graces of the Wizarding World?” Ron snapped. Well, so he might not have a problem with Harry’s sexuality but definitely with his choice of partner.

“Maybe because that _ferret_ ,” Draco sneered, visibly displeased with the mocking name “Has been in a relationship with him for seven years. And maybe you didn’t notice but Harry mentioned we have _sons_.”

Harry put a hand on Draco’s thigh, probably to calm him down so he wouldn’t do any more damage to the friendship that was already severed beyond repair. Draco sighed but shut his mouth. If Harry wanted to work this out alone he would let him.

“Seven years?” the red head, which was more green than red right now, gasped. “When? How? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We got together during our Eighth Year.” Harry explained calmly. “I didn’t tell you because we didn’t tell anyone. Only Luna knew about it and only because she figured it out on her own.”

Harry took his hand off Draco’s thigh and instead entwined their fingers, presumably to prepare for the metaphorical storm he was about to receive from his best friend.

“But… but that was eleven years ago!”

“Brilliant deduction, Weasley.” Draco muttered so low only Harry could’ve heard him.

“We had to take a break.” Harry dismissed. “The point is that right now, Draco is my lover and I have no intention of breaking up with him. Can you live with that?”

It was an easy yes or no question but to Draco’s displeasure, Weasley took his time to answer it what made Harry more fidgety by the second.

“I don’t know.” He finally settled on. “I really don’t trust him with you. I have to think about it.” Then his head disappeared from the flames and they turned red once again.

 

Harry released a big sigh and let himself fall back into Draco’s lap. “That definitely could’ve gone worth. I think he was too shocked to process it all. Let’s just hope Hermione talks sense into him before he makes a decision.”

“I wouldn’t rely on that too much.” Draco said, he didn’t want to ruin Harry’s mood but he had to make sure Harry looked at this from all angles.

“Why?”

“Well… I might be completely wrong but… at school she had this Organisation for House Elves, right?”

“SPEW, yes. What does that have to do with anything?”

“You see, she’s a Muggleborn and for Muggles it’s natural that everyone who works gets paid. But in the Wizarding World, House Elves don’t want to get paid – with very few exceptions. Now I think that maybe because Homosexuality isn’t considered normal by Muggles she’ll react negatively to you being with me because it isn’t normal where she comes from. That might not be the case at all, but I want you to consider it, okay?”

“I don’t think that’s very likely.” Harry argued. “But I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Thanks. That’s all that I ask for.”

 

A whooshing sound announced the next Floo Call. Harry sat up properly and even managed to smile now that the presumably worst was already over. When the faces of Dean and Seamus appeared in the flames, his smile got brighter.

“Mate, we heard you’re with Malfoy now.” Seamus said with a smirk.

“So that’s what Skeeter wrote? Not that we were sighted in Diagon Alley together?”

“Of course she did. It’s Skeeter. Always gossiping around. And gossip about the Chosen One and his Death Eater is just extra juicy.”

“The Chosen One and his Death Eater?” Harry enquired, visibly displeased.

Seamus raised his hands in surrender. “Her words, not mine. So, is it true then?”

“Yeah. We’re a couple. Draco even gave me a promise ring for Christmas. And we have two sons.”

“Fucking finally…” Dean muttered. “You looked like you wanted to jump each other since Eighth Year.”

Both Harry and Draco blushed at that. Draco caught himself first and answered: “Well, we did jump each other since Eighth Year.”

He smirked when it was Dean’s turn to blush.

“Told you!” Seamus exclaimed. “You owe me two Galleons!”

“That’s great, Harry. We’re happy for you. Merlin knows you both deserve it.” Dean said once his blush had disappeared.

“Thank you. It means a lot. How about you two come over some time after New Year’s-? I haven’t seen you in ages and we should definitely do some catching up seeing as we’re the only gay Gryffindors or so it seems.”

“Sure thing, mate.” Seamus agreed. “But I hate to disappoint you. We’re definitely not the only ones.”

“We’re not?” Harry was surprised. But considering that he had only noticed Dean and Seamus were gay when they had made out in the middle of the common room, maybe he shouldn’t be.

“Remember Dennis Creevey? The little brother of the boy with the camera? He’s married to some Muggle bloke. And I’m sure there were others too. But we’re probably the only ones in our Year.”

Harry laughed. ”Too right. Neville and Ron are both in happy heterosexual relationships. We’ll send you an owl telling you when we can meet, yeah?”

“Sure, Harry. We’ll see you then.”

Their heads disappeared from the flames again and Harry couldn’t help the big smile forming on his face. Even if Ron decided he couldn’t accept their relationship and Hermione turned out to be homophobic he would still have at least some of his friends.

 

The hearth stayed silent after that and Harry shifted in Draco’s lap to be able to face him. Draco smiled happily at him.

“You really meant what you said last night.” He stated in awe.

“Of course I did. And I would have reacted a lot more volatile had they demanded I break up with you. I don’t want to lose you again, now that I know what it’s like to live without you.”

“I love you.” Draco whispered, smiling happily.

“I love you, too.” Harry whispered back and pulled him into a gentle kiss.


	7. The Interview

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? A new chapter? Apparently miracles do happen. I'm sorry it took me nine months to update this but my muse left me for a while. I hope you enjoy the new chapter (and still remember what happened in the previous ones :D).

They spent the rest of the day with their sons, more than happy that they wouldn’t have to hide their relationship any longer even though it didn’t get out in a way they would have preferred it. It was out now; they couldn’t change it and would just have to make the best of it. Just like the past eleven years where they had used every possible second to meet away from Harry’s friends and Draco’s parents as Draco’s friends didn’t give a rat’s arse about what he was doing once the war was over. They were kind of glad for that. Slytherins were a lot sneakier than Gryffindors could ever wish to be, after all.

Early the next morning they flooed over to Luna’s with their sons for the interview. She received them in her living room, still wearing pyjamas with little Pygmy Puffs printed on them. She hugged them all and offered them drinks before they sat down on the cosy couches in the living room to start the interview.

“What would you like people to know about your relationship?” she asked calmly and sipped a bit of her tea.

“Nothing,” Harry said decisively. Draco couldn’t help but smile fondly. This was one of the reasons he loved Harry. He was just so sick of his celebrity status and it was kind of cute even though he could totally understand Harry’s outrage about the Wizarding World’s interest in his life.

“We have to tell them _something_ , Harry,” Luna reasoned. “They won’t leave you alone otherwise.”

“Then tell them, yes, Draco is my lover and to leave me and my family alone,” Harry snapped.

“Why are you so angry, Daddy?” Scorpius asked. He sounded a little scared and Harry instantly regretted losing his temper. He sighed and tried to explain it as child-friendly as possible.

“A few years ago I defeated a very powerful Dark wizard and a lot of people still think because of that they have a right to know what is going on in my private life. I’m just sick of my life always being out in the open and analysed for everyone to see.”

“Can’t you just tell them to leave you alone?” Scorpius asked innocently.

“Sadly it’s not that easy, Scorpius,” Draco told him with a small frown. “We live in a country where everyone is granted the freedom of speech and freedom of press which basically means everyone is allowed to say anything and publish it in a paper.”

“Even if it’s stupid?” Teddy asked.

“Even then.”

“Well, that’s just stupid. Shouldn’t you at least ask people before you write something about them?”

“That would obviously be the nice thing to do but there are a few very popular reporters who’d rather have a scandalous story with a lot of made up facts than an honest article or interview,” Harry explained and sighed. “But why don’t you tell Luna what she should write about us in her paper?”

“Can I?” Scorpius looked up first at Draco and then at Harry with wide eyes.

“Of course,” Draco told him with a smile. “Maybe the public will listen to you.”

 

Just two days later Harry saw Luna’s owl approach their house during breakfast, a roll of paper in her claws. He hurried to open the window and let the graceful eagle owl land on his outstretched arm after she had let the latest edition of the Quibbler fall in Draco’s lap.

Harry petted her head in welcome and let her nibble on his fingers before he offered her a strip of crispy bacon.

In the meantime Draco had opened the Quibbler and found the interview Luna had done with them – or more specifically Scorpius. He read it out loud.

 _Just two days after the scandalous headlines in the_ Daily Prophet _about the sighting of Harry Potter in Diagon Alley in the company of Draco Malfoy I had the opportunity to talk to them about their relationship and their children. They are two of my dearest friends and I was pleased they requested an interview with me to rectify any possible assumptions published by the_ Daily Prophet _._

Draco chuckled. While they didn’t request an interview with Luna it sounded infinitely better than the truth.

_After Harry confirmed his relationship with Draco Malfoy and asked the press to leave him and his family alone, his son, Scorpius Malfoy, who had accompanied them asked to talk to me as well._

_“My Papa and Daddy are the best parents I could wish for,” he told me with a wide smile. “They had to break up when I was three but on Christmas Papa came to our house and told us we could be a family again.”_

_“Do you think they love each other?” I asked him._

_“Of course they do. If they didn’t love each other, they wouldn’t have me.”_

_Like Scorpius, I’m sure Harry and Draco wouldn’t have gone the lengths to find a surrogate who would keep the parentage of the child a secret and was ready to use magical fertilisation if they didn’t love each other and wanted this love to be represented in a child._

_On behalf of both Harry Potter and his son, Scorpius Malfoy, I would like to ask everyone, reporter or not, not to pry into their private lives again. The war has been over for more than a decade now and it’s high time we leave old grudges in the past and let our past heroes live their life however they want to._

 

Harry was satisfied. The article had talked about everything the Daily Prophet had accused them of without revealing more than he wanted to the public. Right after breakfast he floo called Luna to thank her.

“There’s no need to thank me, Harry,” she told him. “I’m just doing my job as an honest reporter – and as your friend of course.”

“We know that, Luna. We’re still grateful. I’m sure the people will adore your portrayal of Scorpius, especially in combination with the picture you chose.”

Harry had to agree with Draco. The picture Luna had added to the article hadn’t been staged; in fact Harry hadn’t even noticed she had taken a picture of them while they had played with their sons after the interview. Scorpius sat comfortably on Draco’s lap, Teddy was showing Harry the house he had built with bricks and just before the picture looped, Draco kissed Harry’s cheek. It had captured their family life perfectly.

“Thank you, Draco.” Even through the Floo they could see Luna blush.

“You’re welcome. We’ll see you on New Year’s Eve.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Luna assured them and gave a secretive smile. It seemed like she had planned something and Draco had to admit that he was very much looking forward to it. So far, he had loved most of Luna’s surprises.

One of them had been the offer to be their surrogate which Draco would still thank her for if she hadn’t slapped him when he’d tried to the last time just before they had left for France. He hadn’t left his house for several days after that because he didn’t have bruise balm at hand or a potions laboratory in his basement, like he had now. In fact, that was where he planned to go now. He had stumbled upon an interesting recipe for a hair potion during his time in France and wanted to see whether it would be able to tame Harry’s hair.

“I’ll be in my potions lab for a while,” he told Harry and gave him a short kiss. “Knock on the door when you need me.”

“What if I need you now?” Harry teased.

“What for?”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of it but there’s this activity called kissing and one can’t do it alone. Would you help me?”

Draco smiled at Harry’s pleading look. It looked convincingly real. “I have indeed heard of it,” he drawled and pulled Harry close. “And I would love to help you with it.”

“Brilliant,” Harry breathed and kissed him passionately. Draco responded in kind. They had to catch up on four years of kissing after all, in favour of that his potions lab could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is there anything you want to see in this story? Leave a comment :)


	8. Fireworks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long. I had a very weird selective writer's block for the last few months. I hope I am over it now and can wrap up this story soon.

Draco had just left the living room when Harry heard a familiar voice out of the Floo.

“Harry? Are you here?” It was Hermione and she sounded genuinely concerned.

“Yes? What can I do for you, Hermione?” he asked a little hesitantly. He had heard enough negative comments on his relationship in the last few days; he didn’t need his best friend lecturing him as well.

“Harry, I heard what Ron said about your relationship with Malfoy and I don’t agree with him. I still don’t like him but I will try to get along with him for your sake. As long as he makes you happy and doesn’t hurt you, I’m happy for you.”

Harry’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that. But it made sense in a way. Hermione had always been the more accepting of his friends.

“Thank you,” he brought out and gave her a wide smile. “It means a lot.”

 

Draco, who had waited right outside the living room once he had heard Hermione’s voice in the Floo, stepped back into the room.

“Yes, thank you, Granger,” he said. “I will do my best to never hurt Harry be it intentional or not. He means the world to me.” He walked up to Harry and wrapped his arms around him from behind. Harry relaxed in his embrace and smiled up at him.

“Are you getting soft, Malfoy?” Hermione asked with a smirk on her face.

“Not at all. I just let my masks fall around Harry because I trust him and now around you to show you I’m sincere.”

Hermione accepted the explanation with a nod. “I have to go now; I have to get Rose from Molly. I just wanted you to know I don’t have anything against your relationship. It was nice talking to you again, Harry, Malfoy.”

“Bye, Hermione,” Harry said and Draco simply inclined his head in acknowledgement. Hermione’s face disappeared from the flames then and the flames turned orange again.

 

The New Year’s celebration was a complete success in Draco’s eyes. Teddy and Scorpius had taken a nap after lunch so they were still wide awake when midnight approached.

As the clock struck twelve Harry pulled Draco into their first kiss in the New Year and Draco was taken aback once again by how much he had missed simply being with Harry and all their small traditions.

Together with their children and Luna they then went outside into the garden where Harry lined up all of the fireworks they had bought at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.

“Which ones do you want to see first?” Harry asked Teddy and Scorpius.

The two had a short whispered conversation and after a few seconds Scorpius took a few steps forward.

“I want the one that you can hold in your hand that just sparkles.”

“A sparkler? Okay.” Harry took out a box from his pocket and pulled out a sparkler which he then lit with a swish of his wand. Then he handed it to Scorpius. “Just be careful.”

Scorpius nodded and walked back to stand between Teddy and Draco.

“What about you? Any preferences?” Harry looked at Teddy now.

Teddy shrugged. “The ones we had last year? They were pretty neat.”

Harry’s smile widened just a little but Draco could see how excited he really was to start the first _real_ fireworks. Throughout the time they had been together Draco had noticed how amazed Harry was by the things magic could do (Draco thought it was adorable) but the Weasley fireworks were one of the few instances where even Draco was left gaping and marvelling their skill with magic.

Harry lit the first fuse and five pairs of eyes followed the progress of the first firework through the sky until it exploded in a shower of green sparks formed like a dragon’s head.

Harry caught Draco’s eyes and smirked. Draco just smiled back. He couldn’t find it in him to be anything but amused by his romantic antics.

The next firework formed a wolf cub and the one after that a scorpion.

“Look, Dad!” Scorpius exclaimed excitedly. “That’s a scorpion. My name means scorpion, right?”

“It does,” Draco agreed and pulled Scorpius into his arms. “Harry chose it especially for you.”

Scorpius turned in Draco’s arms and looked at him confused. “But then who was the dog for?”

“It was a wolf cub. It is for Teddy because his first father was a werewolf. We used to get him a teddy bear firework but as soon as he could articulate himself he demanded we get him something _cooler_.”

Scorpius chuckled. “I’m very happy with my scorpion.”

“That’s great.” Draco kissed Scorpius’ forehead. “Now turn around again so we can watch the remaining fireworks.”

Scorpius blushed and turned around again. Apparently he had forgotten there would be a few more fireworks.

When Draco looked up again he saw everyone from their small group looking at them.

Harry smiled fondly at them. “Are you ready for the last three?”

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically and Draco smiled back at Harry. “Bring it on, Golden Boy.”

Harry frowned at Draco for a second but there was no real heat in his eyes. Then he turned to Luna. “This one’s for you.”

The firework made its way up into the night sky just like the others but instead of forming an animal when it exploded it mimicked the moon and for a few seconds two moons were visible in the sky.

Even in the dark Draco could see Luna’s eyes light up and he was glad the boys had invited her. If Harry was okay with it, he decided then, he’d like to make her an even more permanent part of their little patchwork family than she had been in the past.

The next firework wasn’t an animal either. Instead a snitch made of light seemed to make its hurried way across the sky for a few seconds, almost too fast to follow even for Draco’s trained Seeker eyes.

Draco looked at Harry. He had suspected it already when the scorpion had decorated the sky but now he was almost sure this was a firework set the twins had made especially for Harry.

From all of the fireworks the last one was Draco’s favourite. It flew high into the air like the others before it and then a giant invisible quill wrote _Happy New Year_ in the air. The words stayed in the sky for a few seconds before they burst into countless sparkling fountains.

 

A few days into the New Year, Teddy had to return to Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Scorpius all accompanied him to King’s Cross to see him off – well at least Harry and Draco did. Scorpius really didn’t want to say goodbye to him yet.

“Can’t you stay?” he asked, hanging from Teddy’s sleeve.

Teddy smiled down at him. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I don’t want to miss any classes and I’m sure my friends will be glad to see me again as well.”

“Your friends can’t miss you that much or they would be here waiting for you,” Scorpius whined. “But _I_ will miss you. I’m your brother; you have to respect my feelings.”

Teddy chuckled. “You’re right. I can’t believe they leave me on my own to fight off my clingy brother. And as much as I’d like to stay with you and Dad and Papa a little longer, I can’t. It’s the rules.”

“I hate the rules.” Scorpius pouted. Then his eyes lit up. He’d had an idea. “Can’t I just come with you then?”

“I don’t know. Are you eleven, yet?” Teddy teased.

Scorpius frowned at him. “No. Is that a rule as well?”

“I think so, yes.” Teddy leaned down and pulled Scorpius in a tight hug. “I’m sorry Scorp. I’ll miss you just as much as you will miss me. But I will be back in the summer and until then I’ll write you loads of letters.”

“You won’t forget about me?” Scorpius asked. His face was buried in Teddy’s cloak so his voice was muffled.

“I won’t,” Teddy promised. “I didn’t forget about you when you were in France so I won’t forget about you now either.”

The train’s honk interrupted their conversation and alerted everyone that it was only a few minutes until it would leave the station.

“I have to go now, Scorp,” Teddy said and Scorpius could hear the sadness in his voice. “I love you. Take care of Papa and Dad for me.”

Scorpius nodded fervently. “I will. And I love you too.”

Teddy squeezed his brother one last time and then hurried over to the train. He jumped inside and from the nearest window waved them all goodbye. A few minutes later the train was just a speck of red in the distance and Scorpius went back to where his fathers were waiting so they could go home.

 

That night Harry had just put away the book he had been reading to go to sleep when he heard the quiet pitter-patter of naked feet outside their bedroom. Then the door creaked a little when it was opened and then closed again a second later.

“Papa? Daddy?” Scorpius asked into the darkness.

Harry lit up his wand again with a whispered _Lumos_.

“We are here, Scorp,” he assured him. “Why are you still awake?”

“I miss Teddy.”

Harry then remembered the night he had apparated to Draco’s front door in France. Back then Scorpius had also said he couldn’t sleep because he missed Harry and Teddy.

“Would it help if you slept here with us?” Harry suggested. Maybe Scorpius just needed another body close to sleep soundly, he and Teddy shared a room after all and in France he had shared a bed with Draco.

Scorpius nodded mutely so Harry held up their blanket and let him crawl under it. Once he was under the covers Harry heaved him to his other side so he could lie between himself and Draco.

Still sleeping Draco reached out for Scorpius and loosely wrapped his arms around him like he noticed it wasn’t Harry he was touching so he had to be careful. Both Harry and Scorpius chuckled quietly, not wanting to wake up Draco.

Draco’s behaviour made sense, though, Harry thought. Draco had spent a long time sharing his bed with their son, he probably _could_ tell the difference in his sleep.

Harry extinguished the light from his wand again and when Scorpius’ breathing slowed and steadied he curled around him as well and only then allowed himself to fall asleep.

 

Draco felt a little disoriented when he didn’t wake up in Harry’s embrace the next morning. While he had fallen asleep earlier than him he had still expected Harry to pull him into his arms once he went to sleep. Instead he had something in his arms – or rather, someone. When he looked down he could see the exact reason why Harry hadn’t wrapped his arms around him last night. All his life, Scorpius had always had at least someone in the same room with him when he went to sleep. It was only natural that he would search out the company of his fathers’ once Teddy had returned to Hogwarts.

Draco indulged in a smile. Scorpius looked so much like Harry when he was asleep, he was glad no one but him and Luna had ever seen the two of them asleep next to each other. They wouldn’t have been able to keep up the ruse then.

Soon after, Scorpius started moving. Draco was used to it, back in France he had always woken up just a few minutes after him.

“Good morning, Daddy,” Scorpius mumbled sleepily.

“Good morning, love. How did you sleep?”

Scorpius shot him a bright smile. “Very well. You’re snugly. I just miss Teddy.”

“I miss him, too,” Draco admitted. “But I’m sure he will write soon. He probably misses us as well.”

“You think so?” Scorpius asked hesitantly. “Maybe his classes and his friends will take up all of his time and he will forget to write.”

“Teddy won’t forget about us that easily, love.” Harry said from the other side of the bed. Draco raised his head and smiled at him. “Sure, he will spend a lot of time with his friends and in classes but he’s not the kind to forget to write his family just because a lot of his time is taken up by other, more exciting things.”

Scorpius rolled around to look at Harry. “Are you sure, Papa?”

Harry smiled warmly at him. “I’m sure. Teddy adores you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: [@asexual-lovegood](http://asexual-lovegood.tumblr.com/)


	9. Teddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

True to Draco’s prediction Teddy’s owl reached them a few days later during breakfast. When Scorpius recognized it he jumped up and opened the window for the eagle owl. Neither Harry nor Draco could begrudge him his enthusiasm.

“Alexander,” Scorpius cooed and the owl flew over to sit on his shoulder. “Did you have a good journey?” Alexander started gently nipping Scorpius’ ear in response.

“Great. Let’s see what Teddy has written then.”

Alexander obediently held out the claw that was holding Teddy’s letter. Scorpius gently detached it and the second Alexander was relieved from his message he flew over to the breakfast table and stole a rash of bacon from Draco.

“I’m glad we have the same taste in breakfast food,” Draco grumbled.

Already reading the letter, Scorpius slowly returned to his seat. Harry chuckled when Scorpius, distracted as he was, almost dunked his sleeve in the honey standing right next to his plate.

“Scorpius?” Harry asked confused when after he read the letter he simply continued his breakfast.

“What? Oh.” Scorpius grinned sheepishly. “Right, this is Teddy’s letter for you.”

Harry took the letter from Scorpius and leaned on Draco’s shoulder so he could read it as well.

 

_Dear Dad, Dear Papa,_

_It’s good to be back at Hogwarts but I already miss all of you. It’s so quiet at home in comparison to Hogwarts. The Prophet article about our family rekindled everyone’s interest in me and their questions are more persistent than ever. I try my best but it’s hard to ignore them. Even the Hufflepuffs are getting more persistent and I can’t escape them as easily as everyone else. I hope Scorpius doesn’t get as many questions at school._

_My classes are even more interesting now that we moved away from the basics a little but Transfiguration and Potions are still my favourite. Professor Beckworth even let me stay after class once to show me a Potion we won’t be making until Sixth Year._

_Love,_

_Teddy_

_PS: I can’t believe I forgot this but say hello to Luna from me! And please don’t tell Scorp this but right now I wish I could come home for a few days just so I don’t have to hear anyone asking how I can have two fathers for 48 hours._

Harry and Draco shared a look and agreed to talk about Teddy’s discomfort once Scorpius was at school. But there was something else in the letter Draco wanted to talk about.

“Why did you never send Teddy down while I was making potions when he so clearly passionate about it?” he asked. He was a little sad that he had only found out about their shared passion now and also a little disappointed neither Harry nor Teddy had told him about it until now. But he had only himself to blame, he guessed, after all he had been the one who left them.

“Honestly, I just didn’t think about it. You should ask him whether he wants to join you when he comes home,” Harry said and combated Draco’s melancholy mood with a small kiss on his nose. “Yes, you missed a lot but I don’t blame you for it and you can make up for it now.”

“Can I join you, too?” Scorpius asked. Draco turned and saw him smiling shyly.

“Of course you can. But Potions can get very dangerous when you’re not precise so you’ll have to be very careful and do exactly as I say.”

Scorpius’ smile grew, not deterred by the warning. “I know. Teddy told me a lot about his Potions class. Thank you, Dad.”

~

Teddy was walking down the corridor towards the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchens when he heard his Dad’s voice. He turned to look behind himself but no one was there. When the voice called him a second time he realized it was coming from the two-way mirror he carried around in his back pocket at almost all times. It had been one of the Christmas presents he had gotten from his Dad and he treasured it greatly. Now he took it out of his pocket while he hurried to get to the relative privacy of the kitchens. Once there he sat down at one of the few tables and gave the mirror his whole attention.

“Hey, Dad!” He tried to sound cheerful to not worry his Dad but it was hard after he had just escaped a bunch of girls wanting to know more about his metamorphmagus abilities.

“Teddy! It’s good to see you.” His dad gave him one of his bright and honest smiles that were strictly reserved for family and Teddy couldn’t help smiling back. “How are you?”

Teddy wanted to lie, wanted to tell him he was fine but he knew his fathers had probably gotten his letter and that was the reason his Dad wanted to talk to him. In addition to that his Dad’s concerned expression made it hard to think of a convincing lie. So he told the truth.

“It could be better. People still ask me all kinds of personal questions whenever they spot me. And as you can see I have lunch in the kitchens because otherwise I couldn’t take one bite without being interrupted.”

His Dad actually winced. “I’m sorry. Harry and I had hoped our relationship wouldn’t make such big news anymore. After all it has been eleven years since the war ended. We should’ve known better, though.”

“It’s okay. I know you didn’t want this to happen. I still wish I could have just two days without the constant questions. People are still asking about my first parents and my metamorphmagus abilities as well and it’s all a bit much…” Teddy trailed off when one of the house elves – Miffy if he remembered correctly – put a plate full of steaming food in front of him.

“Thank you, Miffy,” he said. Miffy beamed at him and hurried off again.

When Teddy looked at the mirror again his Dad smiled. “Harry taught you well.”

Teddy felt his cheeks grow hot. He was quite used to compliments thanks to his Papa but he had noticed his Dad was way stingier with compliments so it meant a lot to him.

“And you blush just as easily as Harry does. But back to the topic at hand. I think you should ask your Head of House whether you can come home for the weekend,” his Dad suggested.

“So you don’t mind?” Teddy asked hesitantly. He had expected his Dad to tell him to just suffer through it, after all he went to a boarding school, and the whole point was to get more independent from his family. It only showed once again how little he knew about his Dad so far.

“Of course not. And neither does Harry. You’re obviously not comfortable at school right now and that’s at least partly our fault so it’s really the least we can do.”

A wide smile spread on Teddy’s face. “Thank you, Dad.”

 

“You’re good with him.”

Draco turned around when he heard Harry’s voice. “I thought you were cooking?”

Harry chuckled and joined Draco on the couch. “I am cooking but right now I just have to let it simmer for half an hour. Care to tell me what you talked about?”

Draco turned and kissed Harry. “Nothing much. I told him to ask his Head of House whether he can come home for the weekend so he doesn’t have to face the constant questions for a while.”

“There is a reason you’re the responsible parent. I probably would’ve told him to either refuse to leave his bed or to just floo here for a few hours. I doubt Hannah will say anything against him coming home for a few days. Hufflepuffs are the kindest and most compassionate people I know.”

“Hannah?” Draco enquired. Why was Harry on first name basis with Teddy’s Head of House?

“Hannah Abbott. Well, now Longbottom. She was in our year at Hogwarts. She and Neville got married the year after you left and she took on the Transfiguration position at Hogwarts in September that year.”

Draco sighed relieved and for a moment he was lost in memories.

“You’re right, she’s very kind,” he finally said. “She was one of the few people who didn’t hold what I did against me back in our Eighth Year. We even worked together on a project for Ancient runes once. And I’m sure as she’s married to a _war hero_ she knows about the annoying publicity that comes with it.”

“Too true. Was that all you talked about with Teddy? You didn’t ask him to join you in your Potions lab?”

Draco shook his head. “No, I’d rather do that in person. If he’s as fascinated by potions as I hope he is he will want to get to work instantly.”

Harry smiled fondly. “You’re probably right about that. Sometimes he reminds me a lot of you even though you’re not _that_ closely related.”

“It’s the strong Black genes. They always come through one way or another.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a little trouble writing Teddy's latter so if you have suggestions what I could improve I'd love to know.


	10. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me ages to write but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Please tell me if you like it, too.

The next morning, while Harry was cooking lunch, they got a Floo call from Headmistress McGonagall.

Draco knelt down in front of the hearth and greeted his former professor.

“It is good to see you, too, Mr Malfoy. I am glad you are back in Britain.”

Draco smiled at her. “I am, too, Headmistress. I guess you’re calling us on Teddy’s behalf?”

“Indeed, Mr Malfoy. Professor Longbottom approached me yesterday and asked for him to be allowed to leave the school for a weekend. But judging by your lack of surprise you already knew about this.”

“I did. Teddy sent us a letter saying he has trouble dealing with the questions of his fellow students concerning my relationship with Harry and wishes to come home for the weekend so he won’t be interrogated for 48 hours. After receiving his letter yesterday I talked to him on his two-way mirror and told him to ask his Head of House about it,” Draco explained readily.

“Who then told me about it, I see," the Headmistress said. “In that case I don’t see a problem with granting this request. I just wanted to make sure you are aware of the situation and ready to have him home for a weekend.”

“We are. Thank you, Headmistress. I’m sure Teddy is grateful, too.”

“I certainly hope so. I will let him use the Floo in my office on Friday after dinner and I’ll expect him back at around the same time on Sunday.”

“I’ll make sure he is on time. Goodbye, Headmistress.”

The Headmistress smiled at him. “Goodbye Mr Malfoy.”

 

True to the Headmistress’ word, Teddy stepped out of the Floo in the living room at eight on Friday. Before he had time to reorient himself he was tackled and hugged by Scorpius.

“You’re back!” Scorpius exclaimed excitedly.

Teddy smiled fondly at him and hugged him back. “Yes, I’m home for the weekend.”

Teddy looked up when he heard his Papa laugh.

“Hey, Scorp,” Harry said, still smiling. “Let Teddy breathe.”

Scorpius scowled but reluctantly let go of Teddy. Teddy smiled at him and ruffled his hair.

“It’s good to see you, too, Scorp. Why don’t you go up to our room and I join you as soon as Dad lets me?”

“All right.” A small smile made its way onto Scorpius’ face and he hugged Teddy again before he darted off.

 

Once the door had fallen shut behind Scorpius, Teddy’s Papa approached him and pulled him into a hug as well.

“How are you?” he asked gently and that was all it took for Teddy to collapse into his arms and start crying. His Dad joined them just seconds later and hugged them both.

For the first time since he had left for Hogwarts Teddy felt safe and loved again and he basked in the feeling for as long as he could. When his tears finally subsided he wiped his eyes and smiled up at his Papa.

“I’m better now.”

His Papa smiled and kissed his forehead. “Everyone needs a good cry every once in a while. Do you want to talk to us now or would you rather spend some time with Scorpius first?”

“I’ll spend some time with Scorp and then go to bed, I’m exhausted,” Teddy said. “We can still talk about it tomorrow, as a family. I don’t think it was a good decision to keep this from Scorp.”

“That’s a good decision, Teddy,” his Dad said. “I know you didn’t want Scorpius to worry about you but that’s what family does – well, this family at least. We worry about each other and only want the best for everyone in our family.”

Teddy smiled at him. “Thank you, Dad.”

“You’re welcome,” said his Dad and ruffled his hair as well. “Now go on upstairs, I’m sure Scorpius is already waiting for you.”

 

“What did you talk about with Papa and Dad?” Scorpius asked when Teddy entered their shared room.

Teddy suppressed a sigh. He should’ve anticipated Scorpius would notice he was keeping something from him.

“I will tell you tomorrow, I promise. Right now I’m tired and I just want to sleep,” he told Scorpius and hoped his voice wasn’t too harsh.

Scorpius gave him a small smile and walked up to him to hug him. “Okay. I love you, bro.”

“I love you, too, bro. And don’t worry; Dad would’ve made me tell you if I hadn’t told him I would.”

Scorpius smile grew wider. “Did he say why?”

Teddy shook his head. “No, but I think he just doesn’t want us to have secrets from each other. Before I went back to Hogwarts he told me he didn’t like keeping his relationship with Papa a secret either.”

“Yeah, Dad doesn’t like secrets,” Scorpius agreed.

 

When Scorpius woke up on Saturday morning the bed opposite from his was already empty and he would’ve written off the last evening as a dream if it weren’t for the completely rumpled sheets on Teddy’s bed. After stretching luxuriously he got up and went downstairs to join his family for breakfast. He could already hear his Papa’s voice when he stepped into the hallway but when he approached the dining room the conversation stopped abruptly and Scorpius couldn’t help but feel like they had been talking about him. He slowly opened the door to the dining room and was met by three expectant faces.

“Were you talking about me?” he asked straightforwardly.

All three of them looked uncomfortable with the question but it was his Dad who answered him.

“Yes,” he admitted. “Teddy still isn’t sure how to tell you about what he has kept from you and he asked us for advice.”

Scorpius nodded and stepped into the room so he could close the door behind himself. “Did you figure out how to tell me?” he asked Teddy.

Teddy looked down at the table top but he began to speak. “I figured I’d start with an apology. I’m sorry, Scorp. It isn’t right to keep things from you. I didn’t want to burden you with the things that happened to me at Hogwarts and I know this doesn’t excuse my behaviour but I wanted you to think of Hogwarts as a great place, which it is, just not always for everyone.”

“What do you mean, the things that happened to you at Hogwarts? Did something bad happen?”

Teddy sighed. “You could say that. I’ll tell you everything but could you maybe sit down first? You’re making me nervous, standing there like that.”

Scorpius could see how uncomfortable Teddy was so he sat down on the chair next to his Dad and opposite from his brother.

Teddy gave him a small smile. “Thank you.” He then proceeded to tell Scorpius everything he had kept from him in the past few weeks.

When Teddy was finished Scorpius reached over the table and squeezed his hand once.

“Thank you for telling me,” Scorpius said. “I just wish you would’ve told me sooner because it might have made me feel better about my own situation. You’re not the only one who has to deal with curious classmates, you know?”

Teddy winced. “I should have known. I promise I won’t keep things like that from you from now on.”

Scorpius smiled at him. “Then I accept your apology.”

 

After lunch Luna came over to spend some time with their family before Teddy would leave again the next day.

“Luna!” Scorpius exclaimed when he saw her step out of the hearth.

“Hello, Scorpius,” she greeted him and knelt down next to him on the carpet, careful not to crumple his drawing. “What are you doing?”

Scorpius looked at her confused. Wasn’t it obvious? “I’m drawing my family.”

“Oh… I could’ve seen that. But who is the person in the dress with the blonde hair?”

This question confused Scorpius even further. Couldn’t Luna see it was her? Or did she think she wasn’t part of his family? That second thought made him sad.

“It’s you,” he told Luna. She smiled and kissed his cheek which made him feel happy again.

“Thank you, Scorp. But you know I’m not really part of your family, right?”

“You are,” Scorpius insisted, upset again. “We all love you and you’re here all the time and you even got your own firework on New Year’s Eve. Dad said you’re my biogical mom and you’ll always have a place in our family.”

“It’s bio _lo_ gical, love,” Scorpius heard his Dad say. He looked up from his drawing and saw his Dad standing in the doorway.

“Draco!” Luna exclaimed and turned towards him as well.

“Hello, Luna,” he said with a warm smile. “Before you ask, yes, I did say that and I mean it. You’re as much a part of our family as the four of us.”

Scorpius looked at Luna to see her reaction and saw a tear slowly running down her cheek.

“Please don’t cry, Mom!” Scorpius said and leaned over his drawing to hug her. “I don’t like it when you’re sad.”

“I’m not sad, Scorpius. In fact, I’m very happy. I’m crying because I’m happy,” Luna assured him while more and more tears ran down her cheeks.

“That’s good,” Scorpius said, close to tears as well. “I’m very happy, too.”

 

Despite everyone’s reassurances his talk with Luna that afternoon still plagued Scorpius when his Dad brought him to bed.

“Dad?” he asked when his Dad got up after he had read him and Teddy a bedtime story.

“Yes?” His Dad sat down again.

“Why didn’t Mom – I mean Aunt Luna – know she is part of our family?”

Scorpius’ Dad gave him a small smile. “You can call her Mom, if you want to. Luna clearly doesn’t mind and your Papa and I don’t either. I can’t tell you exactly why Luna didn’t know or didn’t believe she was part of our family but I have an idea. When we were at Hogwarts in our last year and Harry and I became a couple our friendship dynamic changed. We weren’t a trio anymore but rather a couple plus Luna. We were still very close to Luna of course but not as close as we were to each other and I think that hurt her because we were her closest friends.”

“That’s sad,” Scorpius said.

“It is,” his Dad agreed. “But Harry and I might have found a way to fix that and make Luna a more permanent part of our family. We had planned to tell you about it tomorrow but we can tell you now just as well. I’ll just get Harry very quick.”

 

While his Dad was gone to get his Papa, Scorpius invited Teddy to join him on his bed. Teddy joined him without hesitation.

“Did you hear everything Dad said?” Scorpius asked.

Teddy shrugged. “I think so. Do you think I can call Luna Mom, too? I mean, she isn’t really my mom and…”

“Teddy,” Scorpius interrupted him. He knew how much Teddy could ramble when he was insecure about something. “Do you want to call her Mom?”

“Yes. She was kind of like a mom to me when you and Dad were in France. Not that I really know what having a mom is like because I can’t remember my birth mom.”

Teddy started crying silently so Scorpius wrapped him arms around him even though he felt like too many people cried today and all about the same topic.

“Then I’m sure Mom won’t mind. She might start crying when you call her Mom for the first time but don’t worry about that, it’s probably happy tears again.”

“All right. Thanks, bro. It was a good idea not to keep things from you anymore.”

Scorpius smiled at Teddy. “I’m glad you think so.”

Before they could talk about anything else, there was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” Scorpius called out. He smiled brightly when his fathers stepped inside.

“Scorpius, Teddy, we have something to tell you,” his Dad said with a smile.

“Really?” Teddy asked. “If you hadn’t said so I wouldn’t have been able to guess.”

Scorpius shoved Teddy a little. “Shut up, I want to know what they want to tell us.”

“It’s okay, Scorp. Teddy is right, it is rather obvious,” his Papa said and sat down on the beanbag chair between the two beds. His Dad got a chair from Teddy’s desk.

“Ever since Scorp and I came back from France Harry and I have thought about asking Luna to become our girlfriend, we just never felt like the timing was right,” his Dad explained to them.

“Your girlfriend?” Teddy interrupted. “Can you even be with more than one person?”

Scorpius was glad when his Dad didn’t take offence at the question and simply smiled at Teddy. “Of course you can as long as everyone in the relationship is okay with that. It’s called a polyamorous relationship. Here in the Wizarding World you can even get married to more than one person if everyone involved is consenting to it. It’s just not very common.”

“Okay. So, when do you want to tell her?” Teddy asked further. Scorpius wasn’t quite sure whether Teddy was so pushy because he was interested or because he didn’t like the idea of having Luna as a mom after all. He really hoped it was the former.

“Well, we originally wanted to do it during the Easter holidays but when Headmistress McGonagall told us you were allowed to come home for the weekend your Dad decided it would be better to do it as soon as possible,” Scorpius’ Papa said. “So we then planned to do it tomorrow afternoon and planned to ask you whether you would be okay with it that morning. Now we’re simply asking you a few hours before we planned to.”

Then Scorpius’ Dad took over again. “Teddy, Scorpius, are you both okay with us asking Luna to be our girlfriend?”

“Yes!” Scorpius agreed enthusiastically. He didn’t even have to think about it.

Teddy took a little more time to answer and Scorpius could see his fathers’ faces turn a little worried until Teddy finally answered, “Yes.”

His Papa’s expression instantly morphed into a smile. “Thank you, guys. It means a lot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will ship Draco/Harry/Luna until the day I die and then you can pry it from my cold, dead, queer hands :)
> 
> Kudos and comments keep me motivated.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [@asexual-lovegood](http://asexual-lovegood.tumblr.com/)


	11. Questions and Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I have written so far for any of my stories :O. I hope you like it.
> 
> Alternate title for this chapter: Scorpius Is Wise Beyond His Years (aka I Can’t Write Seven Year-Olds)

The next morning Draco took Teddy and Scorpius down to his Potions lab with him. He wanted to get a few potions ready in case the situation went awry when they asked Luna to be their girlfriend later that day.

“This is so neat,” Teddy said and looked around the room with wide eyes.

Draco smiled at him. “I’m glad you like it. I would’ve let you help me sooner if you or Harry had told me how much you love potions.”

“I wasn’t sure whether you wanted me to help you,” Teddy admitted.

Draco pulled him into a hug. “Of course I want you to help me. I’m sorry it looked like that to you. Do you want to prepare the fluxweed for me?”

“Yes, please,” Teddy said with an excited smile. “What do I need to do?”

Draco smiled fondly at him. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

 

Draco had proposed they invite Luna for lunch but Harry told him he felt like he wouldn’t be able to eat anything in that case. Draco understood Harry’s reluctance and agreed to invite her for tea.

Harry still didn’t eat much during lunch and when Luna finally came over he was a nervous mess and pacing across the sitting room where they would have tea with Luna while Draco prepared the tea in the kitchen. The tea was done just in time for him to see Luna step out of the hearth.

“Are you okay?” Luna asked and Harry stopped his anxious pacing almost immediately.

“I… yeah, sure,” he hurried to assure her and ruffled the hair at the back of his head with one hand.

“He’s just anxious about something we want to ask you,” Draco said and stepped into the room carrying their tea on a tray.

Luna turned towards Draco. “Something you want to ask me? Did I do something wrong?”

Draco smiled at her. “No, of course not. It’s quite the contrary in fact. But why don’t we sit down first?”

Luna chose the arm chair right next to the fireplace so Draco sat down on the couch opposite from her and pulled Harry down next to him.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Teddy and Scorpius?” Luna asked when Draco poured them all tea.

“They are at Andromeda’s for the afternoon. She wanted to see them now that Teddy is home for the weekend as she didn’t really have the chance to during the holidays.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Luna said. “Now, what did you want to ask me?”

Draco really appreciated Luna’s light tone and her direct approach but that didn’t really make it easier to ask. He looked at Harry for help but he was still more of a nervous mess than Draco was, so Draco took all his courage together, hoped that Luna at least wouldn’t laugh at him and went through with it.

“Luna, do you want to be our girlfriend?”

The following silence was almost harder to bear than the anxiety before. When Draco took a sip of his tea in an attempt to not make Luna feel pressured to answer, he saw his hands were shaking a little.

“Do you… really mean this?” Luna asked before the silence could turn suffocating. Luna’s hesitancy and disbelief hurt Draco’s heart. Did she really think they might just do this as a joke?

“Yes, we mean this,” he assured her. “We’d like you to be our girlfriend.”

Harry looked up from his hands that were still fidgeting in his lap. “Yes, we do,” he said and smiled at Luna.

“Okay, this is… unexpected and a bit sudden, even for me. I’m not saying no but… I need to think about it first.”

“That’s all right,” Draco said. “We won’t bring it up again until you do.”

 

Luna didn’t bring it up again until they had dinner together about two weeks later.

“Will you go on a date with me?” she asked between bites wearing a serene smile. Draco almost spat out the bite of squash he had just taken and Harry tilted his glass too soon so it spilled water all over his shirt.

Draco took care to swallow all the food in his mouth before he answered. “Certainly, did you have something specific in mind?”

“Maybe a walk around the lake? Nothing special or in Diagon Alley, I don’t want the Prophet on our heels quite yet.”

Harry laughed. “Understandable. A walk around the lake sounds nice. What do you think, Draco?”

Draco would deny until his dying day that Harry’s wide smile simply overpowered his dislike for the lake and the marsh-like meadow surrounding it. He would insist he just wanted to “give the bog a second chance”.

 

Two days later Draco found himself walking towards the lake just a few hundred yards from their house, holding Harry’s hand. It reminded him a lot of one of the first dates he and Harry had been on back when they were still Hogwarts where the most exciting dating spots had been The Three Broomsticks and the Black Lake (and Madame Puddifoot’s but Draco would rather not think about that pink hellhole). He even was almost as nervous as he had been back then.

Harry squeezed his hand once when he noticed. “Don’t worry,” he said.

Draco wanted to ask why exactly he shouldn’t worry but one look at Harry’s face told him he was nervous and worried as well and he had said it to soothe Draco as much as himself.

When Draco looked up again he saw Luna approaching them in a run.

“Draco! Harry!” she exclaimed. “You came!”

She jumped at Draco when she was only a few feet away and Draco let go of Harry’s hand to hug her properly.

“Hey, Luna. It’s good to see you. Did you think we wouldn’t come?”

Luna buried her face in Draco’s chest. “I found spotted lintygoons in my pillow this morning so I wasn’t sure,” she admitted.

Draco smiled down at her. “Say hello to them for me and tell them I would never leave you standing in the rain.”

“But it isn’t raining, Draco,” Luna pointed out matter-of-factly.

“I know. It’s a Muggle idiom. Harry’s vocabulary is rubbing off on me.”

Luna laughed. “Then maybe I should ask him what it means.” She walked over to Harry and hugged him as well.

“It means we won’t leave you hanging when we say we’ll be there,” Harry told her without prompting and hugged her back.

“Thank you,” she said and kissed first Harry’s and then Draco’s cheek. “Now come on, I remember asking you to walk around the lake for our date not just to stand next to it.”

Harry chuckled. “That’s right. Let’s go.”

 

The three of them walked next to each other, Luna between Harry and Draco. After a few minutes of walking Draco stretched out his arm and took Harry’s hand behind Luna’s back. They weren’t very stealthy about it so Luna noticed it almost immediately.

“Are you holding hands literally behind my back?” she asked.

“Possibly,” Harry said with a crooked grin.

“Would it bother you if we did?” Draco asked, trying for an innocent smile.

“Not at all,” Luna said and took Draco’s and Harry’s free hands in hers. It was a little awkward to walk like that but neither of them minded.

 

~

 

While his fathers were on their first date with Luna, Teddy had a different appointment. Professor Longbottom had counselling hours every Wednesday after classes and he was currently on his way to her office.

Once he was standing in front of the door to her office he just looked at it for a minute before he finally convinced himself he should do this and no one else would find out about it since Professor Longbottom had promised these talks were confidential.

He knocked timidly three times.

“Come in,” Professor Longbottom invited him in.

Teddy shuffled in even though he was still not quite sure whether it was really the right decision to discuss his family issues with his Head of House. There was no going back now.

“Hello Teddy,” Professor Longbottom greeted him. Teddy couldn’t help smiling back. Her smile was definitely contagious and in addition to that she was the only Professor who hadn’t needed him to tell her he wanted to be called Teddy at least twice before she did, which had made him like her even before his first Transfiguration lesson.

“Good afternoon, Professor. Can I talk to you about… family things?”

“Of course. Sit down.” She waved her wand and the comfortable-looking chair in front of her desk scooted back a few inches.

“Thank you.” Teddy sat down and took a minute to figure out what he wanted to say. Professor Longbottom didn’t push him to talk which made Teddy like her even more. At first he had been unsure whether Hufflepuff was really the right house for him but now he was sure it was.

“When I was home over the weekend our fathers told us – that’s me and my brother – they’d like to ask a friend of theirs to be their girlfriend,” he explained.

“I see.”

The small comment assured Teddy she was listening to him and it prompted him to continue. “I don’t mind that they do but I feel like things will change no matter what she decides and I don’t want that. Things have been great ever since Dad came back from France with Scorpius, at least aside from the constant questions from everyone here, and I don’t want that to change.”

Professor Longbottom nodded. “But what if it changes for the better?”

“Do you think it will?” Teddy asked hopeful.

“It’s likely. I’ve known your fathers in school. They both have a lot of love to give and I don’t think beginning a relationship with a friend of theirs will make them love you any less, quite the contrary, actually. If their friend is who I think she is, you will gain a very loving mother with it.”

“But what if they have less time for me and Scorpius then?”

“Then you can tell them you feel like they don’t spend enough time with you or you can come here again and we’ll find something else you can do instead.”

Teddy smiled. “Okay. I think I can do that. Thank you, Professor.”

“You’re welcome, Teddy. Was there something else you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yeah, I… the questions about my metamorphmagus abilities and my family still follow me everywhere. I had hoped you or the other teachers could do something about it.”

“They still harass you?” Professor Longbottom sounded surprised.

“Yes?” Teddy answered hesitantly.

“Oh. I haven’t seen anyone search you out in the last week but apparently they have just gotten stealthier about it after Professor McGonagall told them they would get detention if one of the teachers or the prefects caught them questioning you.”

Teddy nodded. He couldn’t deny he was a little disappointed they hadn’t done more to make him feel comfortable but he understood they had more students to worry about than just him and had apparently thought the prospect of detention would keep his classmates from being obnoxious. “They mostly corner me in deserted hallways between classes now.”

“I see. We will see what else we can do to stop the questioning but I can’t promise you anything.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Professor Longbottom smiled at Teddy. “I’m glad I could help you at least a little.”

With another nod Teddy got up and left her office again. He really wanted to talk to Scorpius now. He hoped he was still at his grandma’s so they could talk without their fathers hearing them. He didn’t want to keep his fears a secret from them but he wanted to talk to Scorpius first.

 

~

 

“Do you want to have more children?” Luna asked out of the blue when they were about halfway around the lake.

There was nothing Draco could choke on this time so he stumbled on air instead. Luna just had a talent to catch him – and, judging by his shocked face, Harry as well – completely off guard.

This time Harry caught himself again sooner and answered. “I’d like more children at some point in the future but for now I think we have our hands full with Teddy and Scorpius.”

“That’s true,” Draco agreed with a smile. “Maybe we can talk about that again once Scorpius goes to Hogwarts as well.”

“Yes, that sounds nice. Do Teddy and Scorp know you want me to be your girlfriend?”

“Of course, we told them the night before we asked you and asked them whether they were okay with it. Neither Harry nor I like secrets and we think our children should have a say in what happens in our family. We wouldn’t have asked you if they had objected to it,” Draco explained and squeezed Luna’s hand once. “Family is important to us, Luna.”

Luna smiled at him. “I know that. I just needed to make sure. Harry tends to do things without thinking them through and sometimes you just go along with it.”

Draco chuckled. “Okay, yes, that is true. The pizza week was definitely Harry’s idea and neither of us thought that through.”

“Hey,” Harry complained and lightly punched Draco’s shoulder. “You were the one who restricted it to pizza. I wanted to eat Italian food for a week.”

“I admit that wasn’t my best idea to date,” Draco said with a smile and kissed Harry’s cheek.

 

~

 

When Teddy entered the Hufflepuff common room a handful of heads turned into his direction just like they had in the previous weeks. Teddy did his best to just ignore them and walked up to Daniel Stroud, fifth year Prefect and one of the only people who hadn’t asked him any invasive questions since the beginning of the school year.

“Daniel?” he asked.

Daniel looked up from the parchment he was currently writing on and at Teddy. “Teddy,” He smiled. “Can I do anything for you?”

“Yes, I…” Teddy hesitated and Daniel waited patiently for him to continue. “I talked to Professor Longbottom about some personal stuff and now I’d like to talk to my brother about it.”

“So you want to use the Floo Room?”

Teddy just nodded.

“All right. Come with me, then. It should be unoccupied right now.”

Teddy followed Daniel to a door at the far side of the common room. Daniel unlocked it with a small key and let Teddy enter. Behind it was a quite small but cosy room which only held a hearth, a bowl full of Floo powder and several thick cushions.

“You know how to place a Floo call?” Daniel asked.

“Yes,” Teddy said confidently. Harry had let him do the honour of calling his grandma over the Floo often enough in the past years for Teddy to know exactly what he was doing.

“Good. The door only opens with a key from the outside but you can always leave the room so you don’t have to worry about locking it again or anyone interrupting you.”

Teddy smiled. “Thank you, Daniel.”

Daniel smiled back. “You’re welcome, Teddy. I hope the call helps you with whatever personal problems you have at the moment.” Daniel gave a small wave and then exited the room again, closing the door behind him.

Teddy took a deep breath and took a pinch of Floo powder from the bowl on the mantle. Then he knelt down and threw it into the hearth.

“Tonks residence,” he called out once the fire had turned green and stuck his head into the flames.

 

Scorpius was just having tea with his grandma (she was Teddy’s bio _lo_ gical grandma so of course she was his as well) in her sitting room when he heard the Floo activate behind him.

“Scorpius?” he heard Teddy’s voice call out a second later.

Scorpius looked at his grandma who smiled and nodded at him. “Go. I’ll put a stasis charm on your tea and put up a privacy spell so I can’t listen in on your conversation.”

“Thank you, grandma.” He slid off the armchair he had curled up in and knelt down in front of the hearth.

“I’m here, what is it, Teddy?”

In the second it took Teddy to formulate an answer, Scorpius felt the familiar magic of his grandma settle over him. She had cast the privacy spell for them.

“I just talked to Professor Longbottom – she is the Head of House for Hufflepuff – and told her our fathers asked Luna to become their girlfriend.”

“You did? Why?”

Without hesitation Teddy told Scorpius about his fears concerning their fathers and his conversation with Professor Longbottom while Scorpius listened attentively.

“I think your Professor is right,” Scorpius said once Teddy was done. “Have you ever felt like Papa and Dad didn’t pay you enough attention before?”

Teddy hesitated for a few seconds but then he shook his head. “I don’t think so. Even when you and Dad were in France Papa always made an effort to take care of me. And when he couldn’t Luna was there to help.”

Scorpius smiled at him. “See? Dad made an effort to look after me when we were in France as well. And now that they’re happy, and probably will be even happier with Luna, I think they’ll want to share that happiness with us.”

“You’re right, that sounds like them. Thank you, Scorp.”

“You’re welcome,” Scorpius said and gave him another smile. Then Teddy’s face disappeared from the flames and when Scorpius pulled his head back as well they turned orange again.

“Could you help your brother?” Scorpius’ grandma asked when he had sat down opposite from her again.

“Yes. He just had a question about our fathers – I mean...”

His grandma just smiled at him. “I know what you mean and I don’t mind. Teddy sees Harry and Draco as his fathers and I’m the last one to tell him off for that. Now drink your tea or it will go cold.”

Scorpius smiled back at his grandma and took a sip of his tea.

 

~

 

After their walk around the lake, Harry and Draco invited Luna to join them for a cup of tea at their house and Luna agreed readily. When they entered their house, Harry went to make tea so Draco asked Luna to follow him and went to the living room with her.

Once again Draco let Luna choose where she wanted to sit and when she had sat down in the middle of the couch he sat down on her right. He stiffened in surprise when Luna leaned against him but he relaxed again almost immediately and hoped Luna hadn’t noticed.

“Draco?” Luna asked.

“Yes?” Draco shifted a little so he could look at her

“I’m still not sure whether I want to be your girlfriend.” Draco couldn’t help smiling fondly when he saw Luna played with the hem of her jumper just like Harry often did whenever he was nervous. Apparently he was not the only one on who Harry’s habits had rubbed off on.

“That’s all right,” he assured Luna and gently covered both of her hands with one of his. “Take all the time you need to figure it out. This is just our first date. We can go on plenty more. Harry and I didn’t get together until a few days after our fifth date and when I finally asked him I was still worried it might be too early.”

“But you had years of history you needed to consider before entering a relationship. We’ve been best friends for ages now. Shouldn’t that make it easier to decide?”

“I don’t think so. After all, not all friendships have the potential for romance and some friendships are just as strong as or even stronger than romantic relationships. Just go with what feels right, like you always do. I’m sure that way it will all work out in the end.”

“All right. Thank you, Draco.”

Draco smiled at her and pulled her a little closer. “You’re welcome.”

 

When Harry came into the living room carrying three mugs of tea, prepared like each of them liked it, he saw Draco and Luna sitting on the couch close enough to be considered cuddling. Harry found he didn’t mind. On the contrary, it made him smile and it simply felt _right_. This more than anything else that had happened during their date so far showed him it had been the right decision to ask Luna to be their girlfriend.

“Harry,” Luna said when she saw him. “Come sit down.”

Harry put the three mugs down on the table and then sat down next to Luna. Once he had leaned back and relaxed Luna pulled him closer until he was leaning against her. Harry turned his head until his nose was buried in Luna’s hair and smiled. Yes, this had definitely been the right decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments keep me motivated.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [@asexual-lovegood](http://asexual-lovegood.tumblr.com/)


	12. The Second Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new chapter :D I'm already working on chapter 13 so hopefully that won't take me as long to finish.

At the end of their first date Luna, Harry and Draco had decided to continue to keep their relationship away from the prying eyes of the Wizarding World for now, so for their second date Luna invited Harry and Draco to a small café in Muggle London. She had only ever been to a café in Diagon Alley before so she had asked Ginny, who was currently dating a Muggle girl, which places she could recommend and decided on the one that looked the cosiest.

When Harry and Draco entered the café Luna was surprised to see they had Scorpius with them but she didn’t mind. After all, both Scorpius and Teddy had to be comfortable with their relationship as well.

Luna could see Scorpius’ eyes widen the second he spotted her. “Mom!” he exclaimed smiling brightly and ran up to her.

“Scorpius,” she said more quietly but no less happy to see him. “I see you have accompanied your fathers. Is there a reason for that?”

Scorpius wrapped his arms around her before he answered. “Grandma doesn’t have time and I didn’t want to go to the Weasleys. Is it okay that I’m here?” His eyes turned pleading when Luna didn’t answer immediately.

Luna smiled at Scorpius and gently wiped a strand of hair off his forehead. “Of course that’s okay. Don’t ever worry about me not wanting you to be there. I like being around you.”

“See, Scorpius,” Draco said. Luna looked up and found he and Harry had reached their table while she had talked to Scorpius. “I told you Luna wouldn’t mind.”

Scorpius nodded and squeezed Luna a little tighter for a second before he let go of her again and sat down on the chair next to her.

“Good afternoon, Luna,” Draco said and leaned down for a short hug. “It’s good to see you.” Then he went to the other side of the table and sat down. Harry joined him after he had hugged her as well.

 

After that it didn’t take long for a waitress to arrive and take their orders – four mugs of hot chocolate and, on Draco’s insistence, a whole treacle tart for them to share after they had all ordered a slice which had led to a round of laughter.

For a minute after the waitress left none of them said anything and Luna enjoyed the silence much more than she would any small talk. However, if the silence went on for too long, she would risk her mind simply slipping away into daydreams and hopes with just the background noise for her ears to focus on, even though one of her daydreams was currently happening right in front of her eyes. Luckily Draco snatched her attention a mere second before that could happen by addressing her.

“Luna, how do you manage to write articles for and edit the Quibbler while you still work at Curio every day?”

Luna smiled at him. That definitely wasn’t small talk. Both Harry and Draco knew how much both her shop and her father’s paper meant to her and she was glad they were always curious and ready to talk about her jobs.

“I have a lot of help, of course. Adelaide is almost constantly at the shop with me and my father still oversees the printing of the Quibbler so I only have to write my articles and look through the ones we commission from freelance journalists. It’s still not easy, though, but as you know, I love what I do and wouldn’t give up either of my jobs for the world.”

“That’s great,” Draco said and looked like he really meant it. “But, and this is going to sound strange considering we’re on a date, I was wondering whether you could use some help with either the store or the paper.”

“Why, are you offering?” Luna tried to joke because she didn’t want either Harry or Draco to know she usually worked about sixty hours the week before the Quibbler came out just to keep up with everything, which was just too much especially now with dating thrown into the mix.

“I am, actually,” Draco said and Luna was certain there was nothing he could’ve said that would have surprised her more. It was almost impossible to imagine Draco working either at Curio or for the Quibbler.

“I was taught to take care of the Malfoy estates until my father decided to give them into the care of a firm when I left for France, so I’d say I’m quite good with finances,” Draco explained, “I’d just have to get back into it after four years of doing almost nothing. If you don’t need any help with the finances, I think I could also write a few articles for the Quibbler or help you proofread.”

Before Luna could tell Draco that yes, someone who knew their way around finances was exactly what she needed, the waitress brought them their orders.

“So?” Draco asked when she was out of earshot again.

Luna decided not to let him wait any longer because while she didn’t know how hard exactly it still was to get a job as an ex-Death Eater, she at least knew it wasn’t easy and she didn’t want him to think she didn’t want to have him because hiring him might mean getting fewer customers.

“Do you have time for a job interview on Monday?”

Draco smiled at her. “As long as it’s not too early, I do. It’s my turn to get Scorpius ready for school but other than that I don’t have any appointments.”

“Great. I’ll talk to Adelaide to find out when the best time is for me to take an hour off and owl you the details.”

Harry, who had only listened to their conversation so far, decided to intervene then. Luna was relieved because she’d had no idea how to bring their conversation back to more conventional topics after Draco’s unexpected offer. “Now that all the job talk is out of the way, what do you like to do when you’re not working, Luna?”

Luna couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her mouth. “You know that, Harry Potter.”

Harry grinned at her. “Yes, I do, but I found a list of first date questions in an old issue of Witch Weekly and I thought this one would be the perfect transition. So, what do you like to do when you’re not working?”

Luna chuckled. “All right. I actually spend a lot of my free time daydreaming but I think the thing I enjoy the most doing while I’m not working is doing some kind of art.”

“Does that mean you like drawing?” Scorpius asked excitedly.

Luna turned towards him and smiled. Apparently Harry’s question hadn’t been as unnecessary as she had thought. “I love drawing but I haven’t been doing it much recently. Maybe we can draw something together the next time I come over to your place.”

“Yes, please!” Scorpius agreed excitedly. “What is your favourite thing to draw?”

“Back when we were in school Luna loved drawing all kinds of flowers and plants,” Draco said. When Luna looked up at him a little surprised he smiled at her. For a few moments she had completely forgotten he and Harry were there with them and she was on a date with them. Neither of them seemed to mind though. On the contrary, they seemed happy about her talking to Scorpius. “Has that changed since then?”

Luna shook her head and smiled back at him. It felt very good to be known like that. “Not really, no. Neville sometimes brings me some of his plants so I can draw them and put the finished drawings in the Quibbler.”

“I saw one of those!” Scorpius exclaimed. “It looked great.”

“Thank you, Scorp,” Luna said and ruffled his hair affectionately. “Do you have a favourite flower? Maybe I can draw it for you when I come over.”

Scorpius thought about the answer for a few seconds before he said, “We had a lot of flowers in our garden in France but I think I like snapdragons the best. I really like how they have so many flowers on just one plant.”

“You had a garden in France?” Harry asked Draco.

“It was more Belle’s garden than ours, but yes, there was a garden right next to the house with a lot of different flowers,” Draco explained with a hint of a blush on his cheeks.

“So you didn’t help Belle in the garden?” Harry seemed surprised.

“I wanted to help her but she said I wasn’t old enough,” Scorpius said with a frown.

“You can help me in our garden in the spring,” Harry promised. Scorpius looked at him surprised and Draco raised an inquisitive eyebrow, which Harry could probably feel because, without turning towards Draco first, he explained, “Yes, we have a garden, Draco. Yes, you can help me with it, Scorp. Luna and Neville helped me set it up a few years ago when they’d had enough of my moping and self-pity. I don’t think anything I planted in the last few years could win an award but it helped me get on with my life and I’m proud of it.”

“That’s great,” Draco said and covered Harry’s hand with his. “I don’t think I’ve said it before, so Luna, thank you for taking care of Harry while I couldn’t.”

Luna blushed. “Don’t mention it. Harry is one of my best friends, of course I had to make sure he and Teddy were okay.”

“Luna,” Harry addressed her.

“Yes?”

“Can I hold your hand?” he asked shyly, a blush spreading on his face as well.

Luna stretched out her arm and laid her hand on the table palm up. Harry looked up at her and she smiled warmly at him so he covered her hand with his and squeezed it gently.

Just like when she had taken Draco’s and Harry’s hand during their previous date a wonderful warm feeling coursed through Luna’s body and made her smile grow even more. She could really imagine entering in a relationship with the two of them but she wanted to go on one more date with them before she made her final decision. She had to make sure they still got along with her father first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments keep me motivated.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [@asexual-lovegood](http://asexual-lovegood.tumblr.com/)


	13. Luna's Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another one of those chapters that fought me almost every step of the way but I like how it turned out.  
> I hope you enjoy!

On Monday morning, Draco was a nervous mess. He had already put on and then discarded three outfits and was currently in the process of putting on a fourth when Harry entered their bedroom.

“Your son wants you to finally come down to break- what are you doing?” he asked.

Draco looked up and glared at him. “What does it look like? I’m getting dressed.”

Harry shook his head. “You got dressed half an hour ago. What you are doing now is having a nervous breakdown. Come here.” Harry pulled Draco into his arms and held him tight for a few seconds before he spoke again.

“You should wear something you’re comfortable in.”

Draco shook his head as much as Harry’s grip on him allowed it. “It’s a job interview, I have to dress up at least a little.”

Harry shook his head as well and smiled fondly at him. “Don’t forget who’s doing the job interview. I don’t think Luna has dressed formally even once in her life, at least not the conventional definition of formal. I think you could turn up in your pyjamas and Luna would still hire you. Now, what are the clothes you like wearing the most?”

Draco buried his head in Harry’s shoulder and mumbled, “Yours…”

Harry kissed Draco’s head. “All right. Just take whatever you’d like to wear today and then we can have breakfast.”

 

“Good luck with the interview, Daddy,” Scorpius said when he hugged Draco goodbye in front of the school. “I’m sure Luna will like the clothes you wear.”

Draco smiled. “Did you listen at the bedroom door?”

Scorpius buried his blushing face in Draco’s chest. “You were taking too long,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay,” Draco assured him and ruffled his hair. “Now go, I don’t want you to be late.”

“Okay.” Scorpius stepped out of their hug and smiled at Draco. “But you have to tell me everything that happened after lunch.”

Draco chuckled. “I will. Goodbye, Scorp.”

“Bye, Daddy!”

 

When Draco stepped back out of Luna’s office at Curio he let out a deep breath. The interview hadn’t really gone like he had expected – which he _should_ have expected, he’d already known Luna for years after all – but he was convinced he had done his best. He had also decided to take Luna’s satisfied smile at the end of their interview as a sign that he had been all but hired.

He knew he shouldn’t but when he walked by Fortescue’s ice cream parlour he decided to treat himself and bought a scoop of blueberry-vanilla ice cream – his favourite – in a wafer. It was worth the scolding he would surely receive from Harry about dessert before lunch and being a proper role model for their sons.

 

To Draco’s surprise Harry didn’t scold him when he came home, half-eaten ice cream still in hand. Instead he just smiled at Draco and asked, “Can I have a bite?”

Draco held it out to him and smiled at the expression of distaste on his face – apparently, he still didn’t like the taste of blueberries.

“Why do you like blueberries?” Harry asked for what felt like the thousandth time to Draco.

“Because that way you can’t steal my ice cream,” Draco simply said. He had explained it to Harry properly the first time he had asked, which had led to Harry’s frown deepening with every word Draco said and while that had been incredibly amusing and satisfying he was quite sure he wouldn’t be able to deliver it as perfectly as he had that first time, which would just ruin the experience for him.

Harry just rolled his eyes in response. “You better finish that before you pick up Scorpius or I will _Vanish_ it for you.” he threatened but there was a hint of a smile on his face, so Draco wasn’t worried. “How was your interview?”

“I’ll tell you after lunch,” Draco said even though he knew his bright smile must already be very telling. “Scorp wants to know, too.”

 

“Daddy!”

Draco scanned the crowd of children on the school yard when he heard Scorpius’ voice and let a smile overtake his bored expression when he spotted him already making his way towards him at a pace that looked a lot like running to Draco but was only _hurrying_ according to Scorpius.

“Hey, Scorp,” Draco said when Scorpius had reached him and thrown his arms around him. “How was school?”

“How was your interview?” Scorpius shot back with a bright smile on his face.

“Didn’t you say I should tell you after lunch?” Draco teased.

Scorpius frowned but nodded. “Then I’ll tell you about school after lunch as well,” he decided.

Draco chuckled. “Fair enough. Now, let’s go home. I saw Harry making my favourite when I left.”

Scorpius’ eyes lit up and he wiggled out of their embrace to run – and this time it definitely was running – home.

“Scorpius!” Draco called after him. To Draco’s relief Scorpius slowed his pace a little without complaint.

Draco caught up to him easily with his long legs and together they _hurried_ home.

 

When Draco and Scorpius arrived at home the whole house was already filled with the scent of Harry’s chicken curry.

Draco found Harry still in the kitchen standing in front of the stove. He snuck up on him and wrapped his arms around him from behind.

“You’re back early,” Harry remarked.

“Yes, we _hurried_ home,” Draco explained and smiled at Scorpius who had come into the kitchen as well.

“As long as you just _hurried_ ,” Harry said with a smile in his voice. “Who wants to try the curry?”

“Me!” Draco and Scorpius exclaimed at the same time.

Harry shook his head in amusement. “Why did I even ask?” He took two spoons, filled them with curry and handed them to Draco and Scorpius.

Draco hummed in bliss when the taste of Harry’s curry filled his mouth for the first time in more than four years.

“It’s good, then?” Harry teased.

“It’s perfect,” Draco corrected him. “I didn’t realize until now how much I missed it.”

Harry smiled. “Good. What do you think, Scorp? Is Dad biased?”

Scorpius shook his head. “It tastes very good.”

 

After lunch, while Harry cleaned the dishes and Scorpius got out his homework, Draco started telling them about his interview.

“Luna received me in her office which looked and felt more like a homey living room than a professional office. To be honest, rather than make me feel more nervous it put me at ease because it meant my more casual clothes weren’t out of place at all.”

Without seeing his face Draco knew Harry was smiling at that. He enjoyed being right way too much.

“Have something to say?” he asked Harry.

“No,” Harry said and turned around showing Draco he had been right about the smile. “I’m glad you felt comfortable.”

Draco shook his head in amusement. He had known Harry would say something along those lines but the obvious care in Harry’s words still made him feel warm.

“Throughout the whole interview Luna was calm and friendly rather than professional, which should not have surprised me as much as it did, I’ve only known her for decades after all, but once I got over my surprise I appreciated that as well.”

“Luna really has a knack for making people feel comfortable around her,” Harry said while he dried the last plate and put it away. Then he joined Draco and Scorpius at the table.

Draco smiled. “Yes, as long as they don’t insult her or treat her like a joke she’s one of the nicest people to just be around. But I was recounting my interview, if I remember correctly, not just gushing about her.”

Harry laughed. “Go on, then.”

“First, Luna asked me what my father taught me about finances and estate management, but I could tell she only asked because she had to, so I made my answer as short and efficient as possible. After that she asked me what I expected from the job and told me what I’d have to do at the shop. I assured her I could do everything she expected me to, to which she nodded and then left the room. She came back about a minute later with three small figurines, a tiger, an octopus and a horse, in her hands, sat down cross-legged on her chair and then asked me to choose one.”

“Which did you choose?” Scorpius asked, clearly paying more attention to Draco’s recount than his homework.

“Patience, love,“ Draco said and ruffled Scorpius’ hair. “I’m getting there.”

“The second Luna told me to choose, I knew my choice was the most important part of the interview both from the intense look on her face and because I’ve known her for more than a decade. But I also knew there was no way I could figure out which choice was the right one before choosing, so I just went with my gut instinct and chose the tiger. When I did Luna gave me a wide smile and told me she would tell me whether she would hire me later this week after she had talked to Adelaide.”

“So, you’re basically hired already,” Harry concluded.

Draco let a happy smile overtake his face. “I think so, yes.”

“That’s great, Daddy!” Scorpius cheered and then finally started doing his homework in earnest.

 

Luna firecalled Draco just two days after their interview to tell him he was hired and would start working the following Monday. For the rest of the day, Draco couldn’t stop smiling. He had a job again now, one he most likely wouldn’t be fired from just because customers complained about him being an ex-Death Eater – which had happened to him at his first job just a few months after he had been hired. He was already looking forward to Monday.

 

Halfway through his first day of work, Draco wasn’t quite as excited about his job anymore. For the past seven years Luna and Adelaide had used a filing system that was not in the least compatible with the one he preferred to use so for the last few hours he’d just sorted through file after file to put everything into an order he could work with. He looked up from his latest file when there was a familiar sounding knock on the door.

“Yes?” he called out, his voice a little croaky from disuse.

“I brought you lunch,” Harry said from the other side of the door.

A fond smile spread on Draco’s face and he let out a relieved sigh. Harry was a life-saver.

“Come in.”

Harry stepped inside the office and crossed the room to give Draco a kiss before he set the container with Draco’s lunch down in front of him.

“Hey,” he said and gave Draco another short kiss. “It’s weird not having you home again so I thought I’d surprise you.”

“You did,” Draco admitted. “Are you just here to bring me food or will you stay while I’m taking my break?”

“Scorpius is at the Weasleys’, so I have all the time in the world.”

“At the Weasleys’?” Draco asked with a sceptical eyebrow raised.

Harry shrugged. “Mrs Weasley assured me Ron will be home around eight at the earliest and the other Weasleys don’t have a problem with looking after Scorpius. I wouldn’t have let him go there if it hadn’t been safe for him, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Draco said and let his head fall against Harry’s stomach.

“He’s my son, too,” Harry reminded softly. “I won’t let him get hurt, least of all by my family.”

“I know. I’m glad I’m back so you can remind me of that every day.”

Harry chuckled. “Good. Now eat, you know how crappy my heating charms are.”

Draco was instantly reminded of pre-France days and heating charms that wore off after just half an hour, so he sat upright again and opened the container Harry had brought to start to eat.

While Draco took his first bite Harry went to stand behind him and started massaging Draco’s neck that had already started cramping after a morning spent leaning over files. Draco moaned as much at the taste of Harry’s cooking on his tongue as he did at the feeling of Harry’s fingers digging into his muscles.

 

“Why the tiger?” Draco asked when Luna came into the office after closing the shop.

Luna gave him one of her unreadable smiles. “It’s my favourite.”

Draco knew that wasn’t all there was to it, so he waited silently for her to continue.

“It was more that you chose without thinking than which one you chose,” Luna revealed eventually, smile still gracing her lips. “How are you coming along?”

Draco sighed. “I should be able to finish sorting tomorrow, after that I can start with the real work.”

Luna nodded. “Take your time. Doing it right is more important than doing it fast.”

Draco smiled. “I will,” he assured her. “I’m a Malfoy, perfection was bred into me.”

“Just don’t overwork yourself,” Luna said and let one of her hands glide over Draco’s hair once before she crossed the room and left through the Floo.

“I won’t,” Draco promised to the empty room and shook his head before he got up and Flooed home as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments keep me motivated.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [@asexual-lovegood](http://asexual-lovegood.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Comments and kudos are appreciated. I'm going to post a new chapter whenever I finish it.


End file.
